FOXBOROUGH – If there’s been a constant in most every game thus far, it’s been the Patriots always facing a deficit at halftime, or always having to play from behind right out of the gate.
The Patriots trailed the Eagles 16-0 in the season opener. They trailed the Dolphins 17-3 early on. It was 28-3 against the Cowboys by halftime, and 21-0 against the Saints.
Much of those deficits were the results of turnovers by Mac Jones and the offense. Case in point, there was a pick-six and fumble that led to the Eagles taking an immediate two-score lead in the season opener.
A first quarter fumble didn’t help the cause against the Dolphins Week 2. A strip sack fumble and pick-six pretty much doomed them against Dallas. Then Sunday, during the 34-0 loss to the Saints, a pick-six on the second possession got the ball rolling there.
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With that as a backdrop, I asked linebackers coach Jerod Mayo how tough it’s been for the defense having to constantly deal with deficits not of their own making. And if it weighs on the players or causes issues.
His answer was eye-opening.
“I would be lying if I said the players don’t feel some of that,” Mayo said during Tuesday’s availability with the assistant coaches. “At the same time, us as coaches, it’s our job to remind them, we’re not on that side of the ball. Let’s continue to get them the ball and see what happens. And that’s pretty much the way we approach it.”
Players are human. After making stops, or holding the opposing team to a field goal, it’s deflating having to go back out there and face a bigger deficit thanks to the offense turning the ball over.
Maybe it wouldn’t be such a big deal if it’s one or two games. But this has happened in every game, save for the Week 3 win over the Jets.
It was also interesting to hear Mayo constantly distance himself and his unit, from the offense. The “we’re not on that side of the ball” was a theme, as the supposed heir to Bill Belichick also said at one point: “I only want to talk about the defense.”
By the sound of it, the lines have been drawn. The obvious message to reporters was don’t lump the defense in with the offense.
Now, to be fair, the defense has had its issues as well. Sometimes, the unit doesn’t hold up the back end of the bend-but-don’t break philosophy. They’ve cracked at times, giving up “four or five plays each and every game” that have been killers according to Mayo.
Of course, producing more turnovers would help. Last year, the Patriots defense was near the top of the league, finishing with 23 turnovers. Thus far, in five games, they’ve forced just two (one fumble, one pick).
In 2022, the defense also scored a ton of points off turnovers to help boost an offense that struggled to score in the 20s. So that’s been part of the equation, as well.
Mayo knows the defense hasn’t lived up to its end of the bargain on that front. He knows his group needs to pitch in with more takeaways, starting Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“I told the guys takeaways come in bunches,” he said. “I don’t care what team you are, sometimes it just takes that one takeaway to get three that game and the next game.”
At the same time, Mayo doesn’t want the players gambling, or taking unnecessary chances trying to make something happen, especially if the offense isn’t producing. They have to stop the temptation to try to be a hero.
“We want the guys to play within the scheme. One thing, as a player, and as a competitor, when things don’t go well, you want to make a play,” he said. “Sometimes trying to make a play is at the detriment of the defense when it comes to the integrity and the structure (of the defense).”
Losing Matthew Judon and Christian Gonzalez, arguably the two best players on defense, obviously doesn’t help the cause. Judon is the team’s best player, and spiritual leader, while Gonzalez lived up to his first-round billing. He was a rising star before suffering a torn labrum against the Cowboys.
Even with those losses, Mayo was optimistic the group would make it work going forward.
“As the season goes on, even as a player, there’s a lot of ebbs and flows,” said Mayo. “What I try to relay to the defense is don’t get discouraged. Go out there, and we’ll just do our job.”
And let the chips fall as they may. They can’t control what the offense does. All they can do is make stops, and give Bill O’Brien’s unit the ball back.
As for Bill Belichick wanting everyone to “start over,” Mayo took it as more of a reset.
Once again, he separated the defense from the offense.
“To me, it’s not a full reset when you talk about scheme or anything like that,” Mayo said with respect to the defense. “Let’s take these next block of games and try to perform well… I don’t think, honestly, from a defensive perspective that a full reset is necessary. I think honestly, us moving forward, us getting on to the Raiders is the best thing for us.”
In other words, along with ignoring the noise, ignore the offense.
It works better that way.
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