Patriots mailbag: Addressing hot-button issues after latest loss

The Patriots are 1-6 and getting worse by the week. Let’s answer readers’ questions to dive into some hot-button issues.

@NESportsFellow
How close are the Patriots players to a mutiny, and what qualities has Jerod Mayo shown to prove that he should return next year?

I know we throw out the word “mutiny” because Evan Lazar of Patriots.com used it, but I’m unclear what a mutinous football team even looks like.

The definition of a mutiny is an open rebellion against an authority. Under Bill Belichick, players like wide receiver K.J. Osborn posting to social media about playing time or wide receiver Kendrick Bourne and defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale calling out teammates would look like a mutiny. But Jerod Mayo has said that he encourages players to speak their minds.

If a mutiny entails players freelancing, then I think we already saw that early in the season when defensive tackle Davon Godchaux was calling out fellow players for performing selfishly.

How close are Patriots players to overthrowing their head coach? Not close. That’s hyperbole.

But I will need to see more than a defender choosing to try for a sack rather than containing a quarterback, or a player speaking impassionately after a game to declare “mutiny!”

As for what qualities Mayo has shown so far to prove he should return next year? To this point, not a lot. The team is 1-6 and seemingly getting worse by the week, but they’re also have the worst roster in the NFL. Mayo was hired to be a leader of men, and in his own words, his team is playing soft right now. Maye’s play and the improved buy-in of wide receiver Kayshon Boutte, among other players, have been positives. Mayo also showed a willingness to bring in outside coaches and schemes into the building, which shows adaptability.

In my opinion, Mayo should get away from delegating and focus on his specialty — defense — to help turn this team around.

Given the state of the roster, the Patriots were expected to be bad. But they weren’t expected to be lose-to-the-Jaguars-by-16-points bad. I think it’s too early to be talking about Mayo being fired. You can’t judge a head coach after seven weeks, but I also believe they need to show improvement over the next 10 games.

@jschelleman
Assuming the Patriots get the first overall pick.. what would be the best plan for them?

Assuming there’s not an offensive tackle worthy of the first overall pick, trade down. The Patriots need to acquire all of the picks they can get for the future.

Ideally, the Patriots would still draft an offensive tackle with their first-round pick. But I’d rather trade down to acquire more picks than to reach on an offensive tackle at No. 1 overall.

@AlexJArmstrong
As someone who has covered the team for a long time, have you noticed a dramatic drop-off in fan engagement now that the team isn’t contending? How much has your job experience changed now that the team is bad?

There’s certainly been a dropoff. I think the biggest difference is that every Patriots game that I covered from the 2012 playoffs to the 2019 season felt do-or-die. Every game was important because it could mean the difference between the cleanest path to another Super Bowl title.

Personally, I watch every NFL game I can, regardless of the circumstances, and I know other fans are like that. But that’s not the case for everyone. And right now, Patriots games don’t feel momentous. They feel like a baseball game played in May.

@KleaverSports
What positives have you seen from this coaching staff to build off of in 2025?

Not a lot.

I think the offensive staff, primarily Alex Van Pelt, T.C. McCartney and Ben McAdoo, deserve credit for how well Drake Maye has performed out of the gate. Obviously, a lot of that is talent-related, but he’s also been prepared well. The overall offensive performance has been poor, however.

Cornerback Christian Gonzalez has had two down games, but the play of the secondary has been a positive, so credit goes out to two Belichick carry-overs in Mike Pellegrino and Brian Belichick.

And the offensive line as a whole has been near-disastrous, but Scott Peters and Robert Kugler deserve credit for getting center Ben Brown up to speed as quickly as possible. The offensive line has been better since Maye took over, and some of that is due to his style of play. And I’m not sure if we can fully judge the coaching of Peters and Kugler given the player they were given to coach. The Patriots pretty clearly have the least talented offensive line in the NFL. Mike Onwenu is the only player who would start on other teams.

I assumed there would be some coaching casualties after Year 1 with this staff. There could be more than I expected, however.

@23DGodfrey
Is this ‘run heavy’ team best to just air it out with Maye now going forward?

How did you like Harrow/London? my hometown.

Yes, the running game has been atrocious the last two games. They need to let Maye cook.

And I loved my time in London/Harrow. I hadn’t visited since I was a kid, and I can’t wait to return soon.

@AldoW83
Can we chill with the panic and catastrophising a wee bit? This season was about Maye, he looks fine, and we have tons of cap space and likely a good draft pick to fix everything else next season. Not great I expected better but it’s also not the worst position to be in.

Another perspective on the Patriots’ season.

I think you raise good points as long as those in charge are trusted to acquire talent and coach it up. Injuries have not helped the Patriots, but the team is not improving, and that’s concerning.

@K__VET
Considering another likely top-3 draft pick, and even more cap space in 2025, would you trust Eliot Wolf and his front office to make the right decisions/choices? Small sample size so far, but Wolf’s tenure to date hasn’t been overly encouraging.

The Patriots’ plan this offseason was to build for the future. If they believed they could compete in 2024, then they would have been going after guys like Keenan Allen. But there wasn’t any interest in expensive players who would only serve as stop-gaps on the roster. And it’s why they still have $36.6 million in salary cap space this season.

So, I believe it would be unfair to make wholesale changes in the front office given the approach the Patriots have taken. You can’t give up on a long-term plan after one season.

Now, in saying that, the Patriots need to be significantly better in 2025. They have the most salary cap space in the NFL, and Maye will be entering the second year of his rookie contract. That is the time to compete to win.

I don’t think it’s fair to judge a draft class after one season, let alone seven games. It is worth pointing out that Maye is the only player in the 2024 class currently performing well.

Jacoby Brissett was the only outside free agent signed for more than $4 million per season. Chukwuma Okorafor and Nick Leverett are already off the team, Osborn has underperformed and Sione Takitaki has only played one game, but the team has seen decent returns from Brown, Antonio Gibson, Austin Hooper, Joey Slye and Jaylinn Hawkins.