Drake Maye provides strong defense of Jerod Mayo, Alex Van Pelt – NBC Sports Boston

On By Littum

There has been much debate in the media and among fans, especially over the last few weeks, about the job security of New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.

Should the Patriots enter the 2025 campaign with the same head coach and coordinators or look to make changes in the offseason?

The topic is generating plenty of passionate opinions from both sides, and that conversation isn’t likely to let up any time soon after the Patriots lost their fifth straight game Sunday in a 24-21 loss to the first-place Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium.

One person who is clearly not a fan of the Mayo/Van Pelt job security talk is Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye.

He gave a strong defense of the Patriots coaches during his postgame press conference.

“I’m just trying to block out that noise. I think the conversations about our coaching staff and stuff, that’s BS, to be honest,” Maye told reporters. “Coach Mayo, we’ve got his back. He coaches us hard. He wants to win, we all want to win. We’re all frustrated.

“AVP, I feel like it’s been good (plays) the last (few) weeks, we’re only (a few) plays away. … I think it’s a testament to these guys that we’re going to keep fighting. we’re not going to make the playoffs, and these guys are getting frustrated when we don’t want to win. there’s guys who don’t play , which shouting on the sidelines and wanting to win.

“I think we’re building something good, building something that feels right here. I’m proud to be a Patriot.”

It was the second time in the past week that Maye defended Mayo and Van Pelt.

When asked about Mayo on Wednesday, Maye said: “As players we stand behind him and we support him. We trust the plan he has for us and we trust what he says in the team rooms and all the little sayings. We believe that, and I believe that the results will come out in the near future.”

The Patriots have the second-worst record in the league at 3-12, and if they don’t win another game, they will finish with a worse record than last season’s 4-13. The last time the Patriots won four or fewer games in back-to-back seasons was 1967 through 1970.

The performance on the pitch this season has not been good enough. That cannot be denied. But at the same time, this roster is terrible—maybe even the worst in the league. It’s hard to imagine any coach in pro football winning more than four or five games with this roster. There are massive weaknesses at key positions such as left tackle, wide receiver, edge rusher and cornerback.

The coaching staff deserves plenty of blame for what has happened this season. But unless the Patriots make significant improvements to the roster, the loss will continue into 2025 regardless of who is on the staff.