Is New England Patriots’ rookie head coach Jerod Mayo losing the locker room just weeks into the season? According to one team insider, he might be.
Evan Lazar, staff writer for Patriots.com and host of “Patriots Catch-22” on the team’s website, said on the podcast that the Patriots are “teetering on a mutiny in that locker room.”
“Right now they’re teetering on a mutiny in that locker room” – @ezlazar on Catch 22, the IN-HOUSE PODCAST PRODUCED BY THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS!!!!
— Babz (@BabzOnTheMic) October 3, 2024
Evan did not hold back during this 1 minute rant 🤯 pic.twitter.com/pXIsvyeTD1
This comes after the Pats were blown out by the San Francisco 49ers, 30-13, to extend their losing streak to three games.
“I don’t mean to be alarmist… but I was in that locker room after the game on Sunday. The defense is mad at the defense. The offense is mad at the offense,” Lazar said on “Patriots Catch-22.” “You have young receivers who are literally throwing tantrums on film.”
Related: NFL insider reveals how long it might take Drake Maye to become New England Patriots’ starting QB
Lazar was referring to wide receivers DeMario “Pop” Douglas and Ja’Lynn Polk. Both showed bad body language on the field when the ball didn’t come their way.
Douglas and Polk apologized for giving the impression that they were showing up struggling quarterback Jacoby Brissett. That’s the last thing they would ever want to do, they told MassLive.com.
“I don’t know what got into me. That’s not me,” Douglas told MassLive Wednesday before practice. “I felt bad as soon as I watched it. That was poor by me, how I was on the field. But my team got my back, and I definitely got theirs. It’s just my love of the game. And I love winning.”
Polk added, ““You really have to be mindful of it. I think about it all the time. Everybody’s watching us. So you have to be very aware of your body language, and how you’re moving and your frustration, because it’ll be contagious down the road.”
After their season-opening road win against the Cincinnati Bengals, things have gone downhill for the Patriots. They’re next to last in the league in scoring at 13 points per game. The Pats are also last in total yards at 955 through four games.
The Patriots weren’t expected to be a winning team heading into the season. Mayo replaced six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Belichick and they drafted Drake Maye as their future franchise quarterback. This season was going to be a struggle, but if there’s dissension in the locker room after four weeks of football, something worse might be going on behind the scenes.
Do New England Patriots players want Maye to start?
Lazar also touched on the fact that some players might be upset that they’re putting their bodies on the line while Maye is on the bench.
“You’re at the point now with 52 other guys in that locker room, that all watch these two quarterbacks practice every single day, that all know that they drafted Drake Maye third overall, and at what point in time does some of these guys say to themselves, ‘Why am I going out and getting my butt kicked every single Sunday and Drake can’t? Like why am I going out there with a quarterback who can’t get me the football when we have the Ferrari back in the garage who can get me the football?'” said Lazar.
Related: New England Patriots HC Jerod Mayo made this massive change from the Bill Belichick era
The Patriots indicated before the season that Maye would be brought along slowly and wouldn’t start right away. The only playing time Maye has gotten this season was at the end of the Pats’ Week 3 loss to the New York Jets. The Pats were even criticized for doing so as Maye took some shots and was sacked twice during garbage time.
Team reporter backtracks ‘mutiny’ comments
The Patriots ended up removing Lazar’s “mutiny” comments from the podcast on the team’s website.
During an appearance on Boston’s 98.5 The Sports Hub, Lazar sought to walk back his initial comment that caused quite a stir.
Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) tells @JoeyMurr he “got a little carried away” with the locker room mutiny comments on a Patriots podcast earlier today. pic.twitter.com/l3ErOUsnuR
— 98.5 The Sports Hub (@985TheSportsHub) October 4, 2024
“I got a little carried away … in the heat of the moment,” Lazar said, via CBSSports.com. “There’s no ‘mutiny’ in the Patriots’ locker room. I got carried away. That was my bad. … That was just my opinion, and it kinda came out a little stronger than I intended it to.”
The Patriots are one-point home underdogs to the Miami Dolphins.
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