The Patriots should be focusing on preparations for their matchup with the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, but instead, they're answering silly questions regarding a potential mutiny in the locker room.
New England changed a lot transitioning from Bill Belichick to Jerod Mayo, but the dramatics certainly haven't gone away.
Evan Lazar of Patriots.com allowed a slip of the tongue to kick this whole thing off, as he used the word "mutiny" when describing the vibe around the team last week on an episode of the "Catch 22" podcast on Thursday. The Patriots clearly didn't like his choice of words, removing the episode from YouTube and editing out his quote on the episode that was posted to their official website.
Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai was asked about the rumor during his appearance on WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show" on Friday, and essentially shut the whole thing down.
"I don't know about that," Tavai said. "It's definitely not like that in the locker room. I actually think the last few weeks has brought the locker room closer together, especially on the defensive side. We have a lot of leaders stepping up, and we got a big message from one of our teammates about how we have to take another step. We have to do extra. we have to do more in order to get us going."
The Patriots will take the field Sunday in desperate need of a win, and if they don't get one we might have no choice but to believe that "mutiny" is on the horizon for at least some folks at One Patriot Place.
It's just a silly little rumor for now, though.
