Patriots HC Jerod Mayo believes report about Krafts, Drake Maye’s development are false
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo emphatically denied a report from last week that ownership has consulted outside opinions on how to develop Drake Maye during his Monday morning interview on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.”
“Yet we sit here and say that he’s developing at a good trajectory,” Mayo said. “Could we all agree on that? So, like, all of those reports are false. They’re all false. None of those reports are true.”
MMQB’s Albert Breer reported on NBC Sports Boston that “the Krafts have asked people and done their homework on how the right way to handle a young quarterback is and how they’re going to do that moving forward.”
That would seemingly imply that Robert and Jonathan Kraft are questioning how Maye is being developed by offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney and senior offensive assistant Ben McAdoo.
Breer also reported that Robert and Jonathan Kraft “remain solidly behind Jerod Mayo” and “have sympathy for some of the things that he’s had to deal with this year and some of the noise from the outside.”
Mayo seemed frustrated by the report in his reaction on WEEI.
“It’s almost like talking out of both sides of our mouths. We’re sitting here saying he’s developing great and then they sit here and the story came out that they’re asking around on how to develop a quarterback,” Mayo said. “I’ll take all of the shots and all of that stuff in regards to our record, our team, our development. That’s fine. That’s part of being a head coach. The one thing that being a head coach, I need to make sure I do a good job protecting our coordinators, our coaches, and also the players on the field.
“And so when you hear one person, ‘oh, you know, Drake’s not developing’ another person, ‘oh, well, Drake’s at a great place.’ Like, who do you think’s responsible for that? It’s Alex Van Pelt. He’s responsible for that. And so why even call around to ask how to develop a quarterback? Yet, everyone in the New England area — you just said Sean McVay, included, on the west coast — is like, ‘hey, this guy’s developing at a good rate, and he’s going to be a good football player in this league.’ That to me, is the is the frustrating piece.
Mayo told WEEI that he has “open lines of communication” with Patriots ownership, and “this is not true.”
“I don’t look at it as a shot towards me,” Mayo said. “I have a good relationship with ownership. I have a good relationship with our coaches. Unnamed sources and all of that stuff, it is what it is.”
The Patriots are 3-8 in Mayo’s first season as head coach after Sunday’s 28-22 loss to the Rams. Mayo has taken heat for coaching decisions made during the game. The Patriots elected to punt rather than attempt a 54-yard field goal early in the game. They later kicked a field goal rather than trying for a touchdown from the 2-yard line. Defensive coaches also used cornerback Christian Gonzalez in coverage on the boundary rather than shadowing either of the Rams top wide receivers, Puka Nacua or Cooper Kupp, both of whom went over 100 yards receiving. Nacua had one touchdown, while Cupp scored twice.
