FOXBORO, Mass. — Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo landed in some hot water for the way he described his team last Sunday.
“We’re a soft football team across the board,” the 38-year-old rookie head coach said following a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. “You talk about what makes a tough football team, and that’s being able to run the ball, that is being able to stop the run, being able to cover kicks. We did none of those today.”
Mayo had a much more positive assessment following Sunday’s gutsy win over the New York Jets, however.
“I don’t think I’ve ever really questioned the resilience of this team,” Mayo said. “I’m not going to go back to those (soft) comments. I will say, we have a room full of guys with the mentality that you got to change the page every day. Every day is a new day.”
The Patriots couldn’t have done a better job displaying their resilience, as they were tested at every turn.
New England received some tough news prior to the game, with safety Kyle Dugger being ruled out with his ankle injury after giving it a go during pregame warmups. Marte Mapu, Jaylinn Hawkins and Dell Pettus stepped up in his place, and got game balls for their troubles.
Drake Maye — you know, the rookie quarterback whose health should be the club’s top priority — was one of the best players on the field to start, but ultimately was knocked out of the game after just three drives with a head injury that came by way of a helmet-to-helmet hit that didn’t even draw a flag. Jacoby Brissett stepped in and led two touchdown drives — including the game-winning series that was capped off by Rhamondre Stevenson’s plunge into the end zone.
“I think it was a good win, fighting through adversity. We got a challenge earlier this week; the guys came out and responded well,” Brissett said. “Obviously being able to come in the game and guys rally around me and help make plays. We obviously pushed it in at the end to score the win. I think that was the encompass of a lot of things throughout the season. Just hoping this is a snowball effect, start of something special.”
Kayshon Boutte had a horrific start, dropping his first two targets immediately after admitting that he demanded more opportunities from the coaching staff. The Patriots entrusted him to respond, and that’s exactly what he did with a pair of huge catches on the game-winning drive.
“It’s not — there’s not a ball that I can’t catch,” Boutte said. “My biggest thing after a drop is not getting in my head, because I know it’s a play I can make. I just put it out of my head and move on; like I said, there was two drops early on, but it feels great to make a catch with the game on the line.”
New England was also on the wrong end of multiple calls, even if you don’t include the personal foul on their rookie signal-caller. Christian Gonzalez, Christian Elliss and Marcus Jones were all called for defensive pass interference, while Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers was allowed to spike the ball into the ground without an eligible receiver in sight without being called for intentional grounding.
It just didn’t seem to matter.
The Patriots were missing their quarterback and one of their best defensive players, made routine mistakes during the early portion of the game and had momentum stripped from them at multiple points due to suspect officiating… but they weren’t short on heart.
It’s probably too early to say that Mayo’s squad displayed the makings of a tough team, but there’s no doubt they’ve proven resilient.
