Jerod Mayo on the Hot Seat: Insider Calls for Jerod Mayo Firing Amid Defensive Issues

The 2024 NFL season has not gone to plan for the New England Patriots, and now an insider believes that the Pats should cut ties with head coach Jerod Mayo.

The Patriots are 3-13 after a disappointing 40-7 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. It was another performance where the defense was walked over, and Drake Maye tried his hardest to make something out of nothing.

The rookie quarterback took multiple big hits that caused Jacoby Brissett to go under center for a couple of plays. Everything that could have gone wrong did for New England.

After another loss, Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald believes that it’s time for the Patriots to hire Mike Vrabel.

“If Vrabel is, indeed, interested in returning to New England, the Krafts ought to bring him home,” Callahan wrote. “Say what you will about Vrabel’s Titans — a hard-nosed, boring bunch often hamstrung by bad quarterbacks — they never quit. They didn’t break fundamentally.”

Callahan’s call for Mayo’s job comes after multiple eyebrow-raising comments from players. Pass-rusher Keion White called for change and defensive tackle Daniel Ekuale told Callahan that players had given up on Saturday.

“Just to speak for myself, I’ve seen a lot of stuff out there. It feels like a lot of guys start giving up when things get hard,” he said. “I feel like towards the end of the fourth quarter, some of the guys just give up, and some guys play to the end of the whistle. I don’t know, man. It’s been a tough year, ups and downs.”

It would be a harsh move to move on from Mayo. The head coach was given a rough hand as the Patriots failed to bring any difference makers outside of rookie Drake Maye. The wide receiver corps is still missing a true playmaker, and Rhamondre Stevenson has had a difficult campaign as he has struggled to hold onto the ball. The running back has seven fumbles on the season.

As is evident from the fact that New England allowed 40 points in the loss in Week 17, the defense has also struggled throughout 2024. The Patriots have allowed 5,142 yards so far this season.

Mayo deserves a second season. A season where Maye has a competent offensive line protecting him as well as a true star pass catcher. Firing Mayo at the end of the 2024 season would simply be a brash response to a team that was never expected to perform well.

Then, if the Patriots continue to struggle in 2025, they can move on from Mayo and replace him with Mike Vrabel or whoever they wish.