Patriots will reportedly keep Jerod Mayo as head coach unless he loses the locker room
FOXBORO -- There has been a lot of speculation about the future of Jerod Mayo as head coach of the New England Patriots. While another season is no guarantee for Mayo, a report on Sunday has Patriots owner Robert Kraft and team president Jonathan Kraft leaning toward giving the head coach at least a second season to get it right.
That comes according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, who reported Sunday that the Krafts believe in Mayo despite the Patriots currently sitting at 3-11 on the season.
"The Krafts want to keep Jerod Mayo," Rapoport reported on Sunday's "NFL GameDay" on NFL Network. "They believe he is the leader of the organization for the future and they knew it would be a multi-year process to get this thing right. That is their stance right now. Now, if things go off the rails -- they really struggle and he loses the locker room the last couple games of the season -- we've seen this thing turn. As of now, the Patriots believe Jerod Mayo is going be there for the future."
The Patriots have lost four straight games heading into their Week 16 matchup with the 11-3 Bills in Buffalo. While they've lost five games by a touchdown or less, New England has lost in blowout fashion six times, including a no-show last week in Arizona coming out of the team's bye week.
With two games against the Bills and a home matchup with the 9-6 Los Angeles Chargers to close out the season, chances are the final three weeks won't be very pretty for the Patriots. But barring three blowouts (which is a possibility) and a player mutany, it sounds like the Krafts are willing to give Mayo another chance in 2025.
Patriots players continue to back Mayo
While the Patriots haven't shown many signs of progress throughout the 2024 season -- and in many ways continue to regress each week -- players have continued to show their support for Mayo. Even through all the struggles, Mayo has not lost the locker room and has the support of his roster.
Rookie quarterback Drake Maye represents one of the few positives from the Patriots this season, and went to bat for Mayo during his Wednesday press conference in Week 16.
"It's his first year, his first year being a head coach. It's a tough challenge," said Maye. "It's a lot of responsibility. He's figuring it out. As players, we're behind him. We're backing him. We trust the plan he's got for us. We trust what he says in the team meeting rooms and all his little sayings that he has. We believe in it and we're bought into it.
"The results are coming. They're coming," added Maye. "Everybody wishes they were now and we're striving for that but sometimes it doesn't work out that way. But I think it's coming and the winning is coming in the near future."
As many Mayo defenders have done, defensive captain Deatrich Wise Jr. pointed to Dan Campbell in his first year with the Lions, when he led Detroit to a 3-13-1 record. The Lions are 33-15 in Campbell's three seasons since and are the favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl this season.
"There's a lot of coaches whose first year isn't that good and they go on to do great things; to give you an example [Dan Campbell], look where he is now," said Wise. "[Mayo] always brings high energy, always does a good job coaching guys while critiquing them and motivating them at the same time.
"Yes, we want to have more wins. That's obvious," said Wise. "But at the same time, what he is doing I think will work out in the future."
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