The Patriots’ head coach spoke about the challenges his team is currently facing.
As the New England Patriots’ record gets worse, the noise surrounding the 1-6 team is starting to get louder. For head coach Jerod Mayo, however, that does not necessarily have to be a bad thing.
In fact, Mayo sees an opportunity in the challenging environment he and the entire organization currently find themselves in. He wants to turn it into a unifying force.
“Just continue to use this as an opportunity to get closer as a unit,” he explained during press conference on Wednesday. “It’s not the first time that any of those men in there have had to deal with adversity, myself included. It’s a time for us to get closer while everything around you gets louder, and hopefully, we go out there and get a victory.”
The “us against the world” trope has been a popular one in New England through the years. Back in 2018, for example, the Patriots rode that mentality all the way to their most recent Super Bowl win.
Obviously, the differences between that team and the current one are significant. Still, the power of purpose being able to unite cannot be ignored either.
Mayo is therefore hopeful that the 2024 Patriots will be able to go down a similar road and become a better team as a result.
“If you’re winning games, there will be noise. I mean, we’ve done this for a long time. It’s very cyclical,” he said. “Sometimes narratives are already written; it’s about just the different cast of characters. What I would say is we know that the only people that can go out there and win football games are not the media; it’s not your mom calling you, telling you to do X, Y, and Z, or someone at the grocery store. No, it’s about the guys that are in this building.”
At the end of the day, however, Mayo himself acknowledges that the NFL is still a results business. And until those look better — starting this week against the New York Jets — rumblings and rumors will continue to pull on the fabric the team is made out of.
“As soon as we turn this thing around, then we’ll be okay,” he said. “It comes down to wins and losses. That’s what it comes down to, and that’s what you’re ultimately judged by.”