Report: Patriots’ coaching staff, players point fingers after unacceptable punt return touchdown
The last time the New England Patriots surrendered a punt return touchdown before Sunday, their head coach was still an active player. Then as now, Jerod Mayo had to watch from the sideline as special teams failed the Patriots.
In 2015 against the Philadelphia Eagles, the result was an 83-yard runback by Darren Sproles. In 2024, the distance covered was even greater: Jacksonville Jaguars returner Parker Washington fielded a Bryce Baringer punt at the 4-yard line and proceeded to return it 96 yards all the way to the New England end zone.
When Washington turned around to fall backwards over the goal line in a celebratory fashion, he did not just put his team up 20-10 in the late second quarter. He also capped off an embarrassing sequence for the Patriots’ kicking game operation.
Unsurprisingly, there was plenty of blame to go around after New England’s 32-16 loss — starting at the very top of the food chain.
“I saw guys getting out-leveraged. I saw a punt down the middle of the field, which is always difficult to cover,” explained head coach Jerod Mayo during his postgame press conference. “[Baringer] has a strong leg, and he out-kicked his coverage, and we weren’t disciplined in our lanes.”
Baringer has been one of the Patriots’ best players so far this season, and on that particular play again showcased his powerful leg. However, when Washington fielded his 66-yard punt there was no Patriot within 10 yards of him — the first in a series of breakdowns.
Jacksonville’s returner then capitalized on a series of bad angles to get through the first line of defense and pick up steam. Baringer could not bring him down either, and that was all she wrote.
“If you look at it, it’s all defensive players. We got to take that personal,” said linebacker Jahlani Tavai. “God forbid that happens — we can’t let that happen again. Haven’t looked at the film; haven’t looked at what happened. I just know that that can’t happen. What yard line did he punt it on? On the 4? That has to be dead. That’s unacceptable. We will fix it.”
