Rob Gronkowski Bluntly Calls Out Patriots After Jerod Mayo’s Exit

Rob Gronkowski believes Jerod Mayo caught a raw deal from the Patriots.

Mayo previously had a pretty cushy situation in New England, where the former linebacker was named head coach in waiting well before Bill Belichick’s departure. But things went south for Mayo almost immediately after his promotion and he ultimately was fired immediately after the Patriots’ 2024 season finale.

While many thought Robert Kraft and company made a no-brainer decision by cutting ties with Mayo, others thought it wasn’t the best move. In a conversation with FOX News Digital, Gronkowski explained why he was among the latter.

“I was surprised to hear about Jerod getting fired,” Gronkowski said. “I mean, I felt like it was kind of unfair to him because he took a team over where it was gonna need some time to build and develop to get back to the winning ways. I mean, the roster was depleted, Jerod was a rookie head coach and I felt like he needed another year to be able to really judge him based on how he would develop and grow after that first season. But obviously, just after the first season, it was apparent that (Robert) Kraft felt like he was just not the guy to build a culture around back to its winning ways. So therefore, Kraft was just wasting no time and let go of Jerod’s duties.”

By all accounts, Patriots brass was fully prepared to have a level of leniency with Mayo in his first season as Belichick’s successor. However, several reports indicated the 38-year-old routinely made it clear he was ill-prepared for the job. So, while the situation in New England was a mess before Mayo was promoted, the former first-round pick made the situation worse with avoidable mistakes.

The Patriots now must replace a head coach for the second time in as many years, and it would behoove ownership to leave no stone unturned this time around.