Jerod Mayo Had Ruthless Words for Patriots' Defense After Thrashing by Texans

The Patriots had an embarrassing, unacceptable effort across the board in a terrible 41-21 loss to the Texans in Drake Maye's first start as a pro.

New England set their rookie QB up to fail and it was clear from the start that this roster isn't ready to support a franchise signal-caller. After another awful effort from the defense and offensive line, the Patriots don't have a 53-man group capable of competiing.

Head coach Jerod Mayo spoke to the media following the loss, calling out DeMarcus Covington's unit and demanding better.

Patriots HC Jerod Mayo Demands Better From Underwhelming Defense

Entering Sunday's games, the Patriots ranked 23rd in opponent yards per play (5.6). That ranking will only get worse. The Texans easily moved the ball, relying heavily on Joe Mixon to torture Micah Parsons and Co.

"Defensively, the fundamentals of tackling and run fits have to improve," Mayo told reporters. "I told all those guys, 'You should feel like crap today.' We had two runs (allowed) over 50 yards. That's not winning football."

It sure isn't. Admittedly, it's hard to determine if the majority of the blame should fall on Mayo, the current front office, or the disturbing decisions made near the end of Bill Belichick's roster. New England's first-round QB played well considering the circumstances, yet his organization let him down.

That's not what we're accustomed to. Mayo has valid questions to answer, though seems hamstrung by the poor decisions this franchise made in previous years. Maye showed enough to be competitive. His team did not.

Mayo is right to demand better from his defense. Whether or not they properly respond will ultimately determine how successful this failed 2024-25 season can become.

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