Patriots, Jerod Mayo Can’t Stop Contradicting Themselves

The Patriots deserve plenty of blame for starting the season at 1-5, but there are a couple things that were out of their control.

New England couldn’t prevent season-changing injuries/ailments to center David Andrews, linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley and defensive lineman Christian Barmore, nor could it have predicted safety Jabrill Peppers’ legal troubles — which are bound to hang over the team until they’re finally resolved.

It’s totally unfair to point fingers for things like that, so we won’t, but Jerod Mayo, Eliot Wolf and Alex Van Pelt have a few foot-in-mouth moments that have made the organization look silly — and downright incompetent — at times this season

The Patriots need to be better from an organizational standpoint, and it starts by avoiding stuff like this:

“BURN SOME CASH”
Mayo didn’t take long to make his first notable flub, doing so just days into his tenure by claiming the club would “burn some cash” during free agency in an interview with WEEI. Mayo — perhaps due to some influence from his bosses — then clarified his comments in a one-on-one with Karen Guregian of MassLive just five weeks later, saying he “misspoke” in an effort to temper expectations.

New England didn’t “burn” anything, which is what we all expected after the clarification, ranking ninth in cash spending but using most of its money on retaining the likes of safety Kyle Dugger, offensive lineman Mike Onwenu and tight end Hunter Henry. The Patriots ultimately were pretty defensive about their approach, but the whole thing could have been avoided if the head coach hadn’t said anything in the first place.

ROOKIE IN LIMBO
The Patriots took a risk when they drafted offensive tackle Caedan Wallace in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft, knowing he’d never played on the left side in his collegiate career.

“We feel like Caedan has the athleticism to play over on the left side,” Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said following the selection, however. “… Olu Fashanu, who the Jets drafted, was the reason that he played on the right — so athletically, there’s no reason why he couldn’t make the switch over there. He’s a really smart, dedicated kid that we feel like can handle that.”

New England had a funny way of displaying confidence in the 24-year-old, though, never really allowing him to practice on the left side during of training camp and using him as a swing tackle to begin the season. The Patriots didn’t start him in a game until Chukwuma Okorafor and Vederian Lowe both went down and ultimately placed him on injured reserve after he played just 40 total snaps at left tackle.

ISSUING CORRECTIONS
The Patriots made a quarterback change following their Week 5 loss to the Miami Dolphins, elevating Drake Maye above Jacoby Brissett.

Mayo confirmed the transition Wednesday, initially stating Maye and Brissett had been informed about their role changes the evening prior. New England then issued a correction that the two signal-callers had been told Monday, not Tuesday. It’s unclear if Mayo just had a slip of the tongue, or if the correction was made in an effort to cover up the fact Maye’s promotion was leaked before either had known about it, but either way, it’s a bad look.

DRAKE MAYE’S DEVELOPMENT
The Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan and Doug Kyed both pointed out the latest instance of tomfoolery at One Patriot Place, so hat tip to them.

Mayo finally admitted what most people believed Monday, saying Maye’s elevation into the starting role was “more based on seeing what we had up front with the offensive line” than the development of the player. He kind of said the opposite back in August, though, specifically when asked if the offensive line would ever be an impediment to the rookie.

“We always talk about competition, and that’s at all spots,” Mayo said, per team-provided transcript. “If Drake beats out Jacoby, he earned that role. We don’t really take that into consideration, when he’s ready to go, and if he’s better than Jacoby, then he’ll play; he’ll start.”

Van Pelt echoed similar sentiments just two weeks ago.

“I would say no,” Van Pelt said, responding to a question about if the offensive line had an impact on Maye’s development. “I think that we’ve just gotta continue to do what’s best for the team, and get us into a position to win Sunday.”