Latest controversy is another bad look for Jerod Mayo and the Patriots

The Patriots 2024 season, while mostly anti-climatic outside of the exciting development of Drake Maye, has been a year unable to avoid controversy. That's nothing new for the organization that has dealt with plenty of scandals over the last two decades, but it doesn't appear they are on pace to change that any time soon despite a new regime taking over.

Most of the drama isn't near the same level of controversy as in years past, as most problems revolve around the coaching staff and the roster. That continues after their latest loss to the Dolphins in Week 12, but the reaction to the beatdown has everyone talking.

After being blown out in the first half 24-0 and eventually becoming 31-0 before the Patriots scored for the first time, they were able to make it (a little bit) competitive by the game's end, scoring 15 points to make it not look like a total annihilation.

That was certainly a positive, but the lack of discipline, intensity, and determination to win was on full display, outside of a few players like Drake Maye, which should have resulted in a sullen locker room. But that was reportedly not the case, creating the latest drama surrounding the team.

The Patriots post-game reaction to their latest loss is now stirring up new drama

Multiple reporters, including MassLive's Mark Daniels and Boston Sports Journal's Greg Bedard, stated that the locker room was far lighter than expected after the team played as badly as they did.

Daniels painted Maye as the main player taking the loss hard, reporting that he sat at his locker for a while, and "the sounds of light laughter filled the side of the room where offensive players got dressed."

Bedard had the same to say about what he saw in the locker room; “I don’t know. But I was surprised at how talkative, there were more smiles than you would think. I would say Drake Maye definitely, from what I saw, took the loss hard. There were certainly some guys that took the loss hard. But I would say on the whole I thought that the locker room seemed a little unbothered by the whole loss and I’m not sure how to process that.”

It's certainly not a good look that your rookie quarterback is the one who seems to care most about the loss and not the seasoned veterans around him. Whether that's an accurate account of how the team collectively felt is irrelevant because perception is reality, and these accounts are based on what reporters saw.

Mayo and some players have disputed the claims, saying the players felt the opposite despite what was being reported. So it now becomes a matter of a he said, he said situation.

Unfortunately, the truth won't matter now because this is just the latest example of people who don't believe the new regime is the right one for the job and is doing more harm than good to the team. There's not much they can do to try to make this situation look any better, and the only way they can change the perception is by playing light years better in next week's game against the Colts.

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