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Brian Hoyer, David Andrews impressed with Patriots’ response to Jerod Mayo
The Patriots' Week 8 win over the Jets seemed to prove the team still believes in head coach Jerod Mayo.
As Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo has often said of late, “winning cures all.”
Thanks to his squad’s 25-22 victory over the rival Jets on Sunday, the conversation around the Patriots has now shifted from whether or not Mayo would lose the locker room after calling his team’s performance against Jacksonville two weeks ago “soft” to how Pats players responded to their coach’s challenge with a gritty win.
For Brian Hoyer and David Andrews, who defended Mayo on last week’s episode of “The Quick Snap” podcast, New England’s improvement in Week 8 was proof that the team is still buying what their rookie head coach is selling.
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“I think you saw a lot of guys said it’s a challenge, and ‘We don’t disagree with Jerod.’ We have to play better,” Hoyer said. “It wasn’t perfect, but there was some toughness throughout the game on all four phases.
“I think that is great to see in a coach’s first year where he kind of comes and calls out his team, and they respond and get a huge victory.”
Hoyer pointed to Jacoby Brissett’s strong game in relief of Drake Maye, who exited early with a concussion, and Marcus Jones’ 62-yard punt return as examples of the Pats putting the “soft” moniker behind them following Mayo’s controversial comments.
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David Andrews agreed and took things a step further, calling out media and fan speculation that Mayo’s job wasn’t safe amid a trying first season.
“You give a guy a one-year roster — a one-year chance like that, then you’re just going to keep spiraling,” the veteran center said. “You just see these organizations of like two-year head coach, two-year head coach, and it’s just shambles until you try to get the right guy. … I think it’s important to give people the opportunity to build something the way they want it.”
One successful example of a coach learning from his mistakes and getting better with time, according to Andrews: Detroit’s Dan Campbell, who started his head coaching career 3-13 in 2021 and hasn’t had a losing season since. The Lions are currently 6-1, behind only the Kansas City Chiefs for the NFL’s best record.
“He didn’t start off great over there, but he eventually got the players they want,” Andrews added. “They had a good draft, got some good free agents, and they’re rolling. So I think, you know, it’s always like the sky’s falling. But today, the sky’s not falling, and you can build off of how you responded to your head coach with a big win against a rival.”
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Obviously, it’s far too soon to see if Mayo will become a consistent Coach of the Year candidate like Campbell currently is. Plus, there are still nine more games left in this season. A lot more good (or bad) can yet happen.
But it certainly sounds like Andrews, one of the team’s most respected leaders, knows who he wants coaching the team when he returns to action next year with a potentially revamped roster.
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