Jerod Mayo met with the media on Wednesday at Gillette Stadium, as his team continues preparations for their Week 7 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-5) in London.
Week 5 and Week 6 were both filled with flags for the first year head coach, as his team committed 12 penalties against the Dolphins for a loss of 105 yards, and nine penalties against the Texans for a loss of 50 yards.
Week-over-week improvement?
Sure.
But if his 1-5 team is going to turn it around, they need to play a more disciplined brand of football.
Mayo told the media that the common denominator with the sloppiness is a lack of focus, and there will be changes on the pitch at Wembley Stadium in an effort to clean it up.
“We’re in the middle of the season now, and to have a penalty on the first play of the game is just unacceptable,” said Mayo, referencing an illegal formation penalty called on linebacker Sione Takitaki on the opening kickoff of their 41-21 loss to the Houston Texans (5-1).
“There will be changes for this game. And so my message to the coaches and the players - really, we want our most dependable players out there that we can really count on. If you’re gonna pre-snap, post-snap penalties, we can’t live that way.
“So I guess to answer your question, is the personnel part of it. Like a wake up call.”
When asked a clarifying question on if those personnel changes would impact the starting lineup, Mayo said, “Yeah, there will definitely be changes in the starting lineup.”
“You know, we gotta put the best guys out there that give us the best chance to win.”
In a perfect world, this sounds great.
But for a team that has dealt with so many injuries on both sides of the ball, it’s tough to see a world where key players are sat for any sort of significant stretch, regardless of prior issues with flags.
Pairing that hefty list of injured players with a team devoid of high-end talent, it doesn’t feel likely that players of consequence will be riding the pine for long chunks of time.
Take running back Rhamondre Stevenson’s issues with fumbling from earlier in the season.
As a way to “send a message” to the veteran ball carrier, he wasn’t given the starting nod for the Dolphins game in Week 5. Heading into that one, Stevenson had fumbled in each of the previous four games.
Instead, Antonio Gibson got the start. But with how that game played out, Gibson’s start was almost ceremonial, as Stevenson ended up leading the team in both rushing attempts and rushing yards during the 15-10 loss at Gillette Stadium.
So if we’re using that as the litmus test, expect plenty of playing time for all the regulars, even if they do sit a series or two to learn their lesson for previous sloppy play.
Whether there’s punishments or not, it has to be cleaner for New England.
“We already have a zero tolerance,” said eight-year veteran Deatrich Wise Jr. when asked about his team’s issues with penalties. “We don’t want it, we don’t need it, so when things like that happen, we kind of just tell the guys collectively-wide, ‘We have to eliminate it.’
“So whatever it is - if it’s a technique issue, if it’s an awareness issue, fix it. Pretty much penalties come from techniques, emotions or some type of awareness issue. So those three things are kind of like the three big things that happen. You can fix it. If you find out what it is, fix it, and let’s erase it.”
The Patriots’ opponents in Week 7 are also coming off of a flag-infested day of their own, as the Jaguars were called for eight penalties for a loss of 43 yards in their blowout loss to the Bears.
When two 1-5 football teams are set to face off, this type of shared sloppiness is to be expected.
With New England being the sloppier of the two, both BetMGM and FanDuel still have the Patriots listed as 5-and-a-half-point underdogs.