The start of the 2024 season was rough for the Patriots, with Jacoby Brissett underperforming and a defense that did not live up to the standard they set a year before. Things have certainly slightly improved since rookie quarterback Drake Maye was named the starter, but he has been the team's only bright spot in the six weeks since.
Although expectations were low given that they're in the midst of a rebuild, the team's performance has garnered many questions about the coaching staff's fit, as the team hasn't appeared to be improving in the way it should.
While there is certainly an argument to be made about the roster's lack of talent, and therefore, the results aren't so shocking, concerns arise more when Jerod Mayo seems to be in the dark about just how bad things are after another embarrassing loss.
That's the case again after nearly being blown out by the Dolphins on Sunday, which was a display of real-time regression, but that doesn't appear to be the biggest takeaway for the head coach.
Jerod Mayo's bizarre evaluation of the Patriots' latest loss brings on more questions about his fitness as the head coach
Mayo spoke to the media first thing on Monday morning and was hit with various questions regarding the state of the team after a poor showing against a divisional opponent on Sunday.
One of the more standout questions asked him point blank if he felt the team took a step backward in Sunday's game since it didn't appear as though anything went right in any phase of the game, and his answer has brought on a lot of concerns regarding his mindset as the head coach.
"I think the team has definitely gotten better. You take the Miami game out and look at the last four, we've done a lot of good things. Now we know that the NFL can come down to one play.
What I tell the guys all the time is, most of the time, people think getting better success is just like this (an upward trajectory). But really, it's an up and down type of thing. Just have to continue to just chip at the rock. And we have a lot of young players in there that are developing, and hopefully, we'll be good going forward."
A lot of his response isn't bad, of course, but the biggest takeaway is the idea that somehow we can't count Sunday's game because it was an outlier compared to how the team has played over the last month.
But is it really an outlier?
Many of the issues the team dealt with against the Dolphins have been there all season and, in some cases, have actually gotten worse. That should be more of a problem and not be considered just a blip in the coaches' eyes. Many of the problems are self-inflicted and harm the team's progression, which is what they need to be doing in Week 12.
Acting as if what we saw in Week 12 was a rare showing is a problem, especially since a lot of it is exactly what we've been seeing all season long. It's a lot of what has analysts and fans questioning Mayo and the rest of the new regime's fitness for the job, so this is a terrible response from the head coach.
Many are concerned about the attitude behind the scenes and why there might be a lack of desire to be competitive as soon as possible outside of Maye. Answers like this from Mayo play into that and certainly don't ease those worries.
The rest of the season will determine if these concerns are valid.