Patriots Defender Calls ‘Fire Mayo!’ Chants From Fans ‘Ridiculous’

FOXBORO, Mass. — Davon Godchaux understands the passion and high expectations, but the star defender took issue with a contingent of Patriots fans at Gillette Stadium on Saturday.

Fans of Jerod Mayo’s team turned their frustrations into chants of “Fire Mayo!” during New England’s embarrassing 40-7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. It was far from an echoing and booming reaction, to be clear, but Mayo and players confirmed they heard it.

Godchaux called them “ridiculous.”

“Yeah, I hear it. A lot of fans — I get it — they’re pissed off,” Godchaux said in the Patriots locker room. “They pay money to season tickets and see the Patriots.”

The defensive tackle, though, clearly felt it was a step too far. Godchaux reflected on a message he heard when he initially joined Bill Belichick’s Patriots before the 2021 campaign.

“‘I’m OK with the Patriots rebuild because I saw success for the last 20 years so I’m OK, but a lot of people can’t take that,'” Godchaux recalled. “I know we don’t tank around here. We still want to win football games, but the ‘Fire Mayo!’ chants is just ridiculous. The guy’s first season, it’s not going to be golden. We didn’t expect to win the Super Bowl this year. I get it, nobody wants to be (3-13), but the ‘Fire Mayo’ chants is just ridiculous.”

Godchaux used the term “ridiculous” a few more times. He went on to say the team’s struggles are a product of “players, coaches, front office, everybody.”

“We just got to get better as a team, as a whole organization,” Godchaux said. “We just got to do better. We got to do more. And you’re going to see better results.”

When asked about the chants, Mayo responded: “Look, you hear those things but at the same time they paid to sit in the seats and we gotta play better. If we play better we don’t have to hear that stuff.”

The Patriots will try to put those behind them, but the Foxboro Faithful will have one more opportunity themselves against the Bills next Sunday.