The New England Patriots defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in week one of the regular season, giving their fans much-needed hope for a season that they thought would be a rebuilding year. After dropping six straight games since then, Patriots fans are already looking at the draft board. Losing is not easy for any team or fanbase, but it is even harder for the Patriots, as not so long ago, they had arguably the greatest dynasty in NFL history. Fans and players alike have become uneasy and restless. In the past week, the locker room drama has boiled over into the public and has become a mess. This column will address the drama and look at a path forward for the organization.
Most of the drama that surrounds the team involves the wide receiver room. Second-round pick Ja’lynn Polk has struggled with drops and running the wrong route throughout the season. Head Coach Jerod Mayo called out Polk, saying he needs to work on bringing his confidence back up. Polk countered his coach’s opinion, saying he has the best hands in the league and his confidence is not an issue. In their London game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Polk dropped a pass on the first drive and slipped a later route. This caused Polk to have reduced snaps, leading to him posting a cryptic message on social media after the game. The post had the peace sign emoji and was deleted quickly after. The coaches must be careful with how they treat Polk, as the franchise used a high draft pick on him and he has shown flashes of potential. Polk needs to clean out the drops in his game and the coaches must do their job and instill confidence in him. Polk is not the only wide receiver surrounded by drama on this team.
New England inked former Vikings receiver K.J. Osborn to a one-year deal in the offseason. Osborn has been a reliable depth option throughout his career and was brought in as a mentor to one of the younger receiver rooms in the league. Despite an established career, he has been non-existent in Patriots games this season, only appearing in five games and, until last week, was without a touchdown. After he scored his first touchdown with the team, Osborn did a “call me” celebration implying that he wanted other teams to trade for him. The drama continued after the game when Osborn shared a text from his agent on social media. The text revealed that New England was supposed to healthy scratch Osborn, but reversed their decision at the last minute. It is unclear what New England will do with the veteran receiver, but one thing is clear: Osborn does not want to be on the Patriots.
At times since taking the head coach position in January, Mayo has said some things to the media that he later had to take back. Examples of this include saying the team would go all in on free agency, stating that Drake Maye was the better quarterback, but then naming Jacoby Brissett the starter and claiming Brissett is the guy, and naming Maye the starter a week later. Every week, it seems like Mayo is stirring up drama in the media, which can lead to distractions for their team. This week was no different, with Mayo telling the press that his team was “soft” and needed to toughen up if they wanted to change the trajectory of their season. While Mayo was speaking the truth to the media, this is something that should have stayed in-house. Professional football players do not like being called “soft,” especially not to the press. Former Patriots coach and Mayo’s mentor Bill Belichick defended the defense, saying that they were not soft, evidenced by their formidable status last year. He implied that coaching may be the reason for the defensive struggles.
The Patriots’ drama has not been all football-related, as they have also dealt with off-the-field drama as well. A few weeks ago, starting safety and team captain Jabrill Peppers was arrested and charged with assault, strangulation and drug possession. A few days later, Peppers was placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List, meaning he cannot practice or play in any games until an investigation is complete on his case. Peppers was one of the few bright spots on the team during the first month of the season and their defense has regressed in his absence. Peppers is not the only member of the team that has had trouble with the law in the past month. Star defensive lineman Christian Barmore, who has not played this season due to blood clots, was pulled over in a contested traffic stop in Providence and accused the department of being racist. After the video was released of the incident, which showed Barmore acting erratically, Barmore apologized to the department and the team for the incident.
Simply put, the Patriots are a mess right now. Mayo and the team need to fix it before it boils over to a point of no return.