Jerod Mayo didn’t exactly inherit a Patriots team brimming with talent, so he knows getting New England back to a respectable level is going to be a yearslong process – a conundrum he is declining to blame on his predecessor.
It would be an easy route for Mayo to take. Since the departure of Tom Brady, the Patriots roster has seen a precipitous drop in talent, and we might be witnessing the nadir right now. The formerly elite defense has struggled -- in part because they're on the field all the time -- and the offense, specifically the offensive line, is downright woeful.
The most exciting player on the roster, Drake Maye, offers reason for optimism. But him getting thrust into action because Jacoby Brissett couldn’t make an impact is yet another referendum on the Patriots’ dreadful roster building in recent offseasons.
Mayo said Monday in his weekly appearance on The Greg Hill Show that the Patriots are going to need time to fix things.
“If you look at free agency or through the draft, we’re always trying to improve our roster,” Mayo said. “Now, in saying that, we had a lot of holes on the roster that we felt coming out of the draft that we addressed. Now, in free agency, we still feel like we signed the best offensive lineman in Mike Onwenu, and then re-signing some of our own players – which was definitely part of it.
“Now, once again, this isn’t a one year thing in my mind, it’s gonna take time to continue to build out the roster, and that’s how it is.”
Mayo wouldn’t confirm if the plan going into the season was for Brissett to play the full year, but needed to change because of the state of the offensive line -- something that would be a brutal commentary on the roster building.
“As far as the plan is concerned, there were definitely different factors that go into that," Mayo said. "Now in saying that, I thought from a roster standpoint just in general, especially with our younger players, we had to see what we have this year. No matter what the record is. When we get out of this season, we need to know exactly what we have from a talent standpoint, and then fill the holes that we need to fill.
“So just to answer your question, I don’t know when Drake was going to play. But if we were undefeated at this point in time, he could ride it out a little bit longer if we’re protecting the quarterback at this time, maybe. But in saying that, I think you’ve got to get a guy like that out there."
The current state of the roster is far from Mayo’s fault. Belichick’s fingerprints are all over the current group, but when asked point blank why the roster was so bad, Mayo wouldn’t throw his old boss under the bus.
“You tell me,” Mayo responded. “I’m not doing that.”