Hoyer and Johnson: Patriots players defending Mayo say it all originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The more the New England Patriots lose, the more media members and fans wonder Will Jerod Mayo keep his job after the 2024 season?.
But as speculation mounts about Mayo’s job security, Patriots players have delivered a consistent message about their head coach.
Rookie quarterback Drake Maye delivered the strongest message After 24-21 loss Sunday against the Buffalo Billscalling reports that Mayo’s job might not be safe after this season “some BS” and giving a strong vote of confidence to Mayo and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.
Former Patriots quarterback Brian Hoyer was particularly impressed with Maye’s ability to take responsibility for his own play while supporting his coaches.
“The New England Patriots organization is fortunate to have a young man as talented as him,” Hoyer said on NBC Sports Boston. Patriots postgame live. “He goes up there, takes ownership of the situation and puts his own reputation on the line for the coach that everyone is trying to get out of here.”
Mayo and Van Pelt also received a vote of confidence from tight end Hunter Henry, who said he “loves” playing for the head coach and OC. And from Hoyer’s perspective, the number of veterans who have publicly praised their coaches this season carries far more weight than any criticism in the media.
“You have Davon Godchaux, Christian Barmore, Jabrill Peppers, Michael Onwenu – guys I’ve been in the locker room with and have a lot of respect for – they say they’re not the coaches,” Hoyer said . said. “(They) are like, ‘Whatever (the coaches) call and we execute it and we’re on the same page, we’ll do it.’
“So I think you have to listen. We can sit here and speculate all we want. But listen to the players who know. … Listen to these guys who are veteran players who have been coached by Bill Belichick, who have been in the playoffs, all those things. Listen to what they have to say when they take responsibility.
But are the players just paying lip service to Mayo and their coordinators to avoid controversy? Do they feel differently about their coaches behind the scenes, especially given the team’s 3-12 record and the nature of some of their losses?
Former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson, who won three Super Bowls in New England but also played on bad Patriots teams in the 1990s, insists we should take the players at their word.
“If you really want to know if you’ve lost the team, you’ll hear it in the players’ voices,” Johnson said on Patriots post-game live. “Brian and I looked at each other at the exact same moment when Drake Maye (basically) said, ‘Is that AVP? Please, that’s BS. That’s mine for turning the ball over.’ I mean, if he did that, he didn’t even think about it. It was so natural for him to say that.
“…Hunter Henry in his postgame interview, he absolutely said, ‘I love playing with Jerod. I love playing with AVP.’ Players don’t say that if they don’t mean it. If they’re not happy with the coach, (if they) want him to leave here, they won’t throw flowers like these guys-. there do it post-match for Jerod Mayo and Alex Van Pelt.”
Comments during post-match press conferences should not dictate decisions, and it is always possible that the property will make significant changes after another lost season. But what the organization thinks of its coaches internally should trump any outside criticism leveled at them.
