The New England Patriots are going through a rebuilding phase with their roster, and head coach Jerod Mayo admitted that it may take more time than usual. In those comments, one could say that he was taking shots at Bill Belichick and how he left the roster before parting ways with the Patriots. When asked why the roster is in the shape it's in, Mayo had a short, but awkward answer.
“You tell me,” Mayo said. “I’m not doing that one.”
Mayo says that the goal this year is to continue to develop and see what they need to do to fix the roster for the future.
“We had a lot of holes on the roster that we felt, coming out of the draft, that we addressed,” Mayo said. “Now, free agency, we still felt like we signed the best offensive lineman in Mike Onwenu, and re-signing some of our players, which was definitely part of it. Once again, this isn’t a one-year thing in my mind. It’s going to take time to continue to build out the roster, and that’s how it is.
“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.”
Jerod Mayo inherited Patriots' roster from Bill Belichick
There is some truth to Jerod Mayo taking over whatever Bill Belichick left over from last season. The roster has not been the best the past two seasons, as they went 4-13. The Patriots' offense finished last in scoring and they were shut out twice. Mac Jones was the quarterback of the team, but he was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the offseason, as the team wanted to find more stability at the position.
As of now, there still seems to be a quarterback issue, but Drake Maye, who was the team's first-round pick in the draft, just started his first game in Week 6. The hope is that Maye develops into the quarterback of the future for the Patriots, and depending on how he plays this season, will tell a lot.
The roster needs more construction outside of the offense, and there's no estimate on how long that could possibly take, but Mayo seems to have a plan.