There was a lot of excitement heading into the Patriots 2024 season, some of which revolved around Jerod Mayo as the new head coach. Although training camp and preseason might have deterred some of the optimism for the season ahead, it was still the first year without Bill Belichick in nearly half a century, so there was a lot of intrigue about who the Patriots would be in his absence.
After a win in Week 1 over the Bengals, much of that good feeling went away, as the team struggled in nearly every aspect of the game. That's when more attention began to be given to the coaching staff and how they contributed to the issues that the Patriots hadn't dealt with before, calling Mayo's tenure into question for the rest of the year.
The thought was that Belichick's coaching style was no longer needed and a different approach would be better for the team moving forward, only for that to be quickly proven wrong. Mayo undid virtually every aspect of the "Patriot Way," and in some aspects it was for the better.
But it was clear that his approach had far more problems than benefits, which are now more obvious when the season can be reflected upon and studied in hindsight. One of the biggest problems seemed to be identified by Christian Gonzalez this week that can't be overlooked.
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Christian Gonzalez identifies the biggest problem that set the Patriots back in 2024
During an interview with Pro Football Talk this past week, Gonzalez spoke about the chaotic 2024 season and the biggest differences he saw between last year and his rookie season.
He seemed to (possibly) inadvertently identify what led the team to their worst season in most people's memories, which was supposed to be their strength, according to the coaching staff, throughout the offseason.
“I would say the building got a little more lax. I mean, that might have hurt us, I would probably say it got a little more lax.”
Changing the vibe in the locker room to be more player-friendly and more relaxed was intended to make New England a more desirable place to play, fighting the label of being a "no fun" team to be part of. However, it seemed to do the complete opposite, giving players too much leeway and, in some ways, allowing them to lack accountability because of just how relaxed the atmosphere was.
That won't be the case now that Mike Vrabel is in the building, especially with the staff he has hired around him. All of this should (hopefully) fast-track the Patriots to being a competitive team again.