There have been a lot of questions surrounding the Patriots coaching staff this season, from concerns regarding Jerod Mayo's fit as the successor to Bill Belichick and whether Alex Van Pelt is the right guy to be calling the offense to if Demarcus Covington was truly prepared to be the defensive coordinator at this point in his career.
Not a week has gone by that analysts and fans aren't calling for someone's job, or, at the very least, dreaming about who they could potentially be replaced with during the 2025 offseason.
That has become especially relevant since Drake Maye took over at quarterback in Week 6, as his progression and development is the single most important factor of the Patriots current rebuild. With the Mac Jones experience in the rearview mirror and the organization's desire not to replicate the failure that it was, prioritizing who is working with Maye and directly responsible for his growth is a factor that owner Robert Kraft is focused on, which made the latest rumors unsurprising.
It has been alleged that Kraft has been asking around about the best way to develop a young quarterback, seemingly undermining the current coaching staff, especially Van Pelt. Mayo didn't take too kindly to the rumors and denied them outright on Monday morning.
Jerod Mayo refuting the latest rumor adds more confusion to the Patriots season
As just the latest unfavorable characterization made during the season, Mayo was quick to respond to the newest rumor after the Patriots' latest loss.
During his weekly appearance on WEEI, he claimed the reports are "false," vehemently denying there is any truth about Kraft speaking to people outside of the organization about Maye.
Did the Patriots call around, asking for advice on how to develop a QB?
— Mark Daniels (@ByMarkDaniels) November 18, 2024
Jerod Mayo on @WEEI: "All those reports are false. None of those reports are true."
Because of the nature of the allegations, it's unsurprising that Mayo would want to shut the chatter down and deny any truth. But at the same time, it doesn't provide much clarity about what's going on behind the scenes, and in a way, Kraft asking for advice or even just suggestions isn't necessarily a bad thing, even if it does look like he's working behind the coaching staff's backs.
It sounds more like an owner wanting to make sure the franchise is doing the right thing by their young quarterback after failing to do so with the one they had for the past three years.
No matter what, the back and forth of what's being said and then retracted makes for more confusion surrounding the Patriots this season and creates more questions for the offseason ahead and how Kraft will go about things, knowing they have their guy under center for the future.