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Jerod Mayo Sabotaging One Rookie's Development to Help Drake Maye

Head coach Jerod Mayo isn't worried about playing a rookie based on his draft status.

By Richard Louis

Nov 17, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo watches from the sideline during the second half against the Los Angeles Rams at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images
Nov 17, 2024; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo watches from the sideline during the second half against the Los Angeles Rams at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images / Eric Canha-Imagn Images
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The New England Patriots were one of the teams who entered the season in the early stages of a rebuild. They have put together young playmakers and veterans on the 53-man roster but Mayo needs to navigate the roster.

During the 2024 NFL Draft, the Patriots brought in multiple intriguing players, but everything hasn't worked out the way they wanted.

The Pats took WR Ja'Lynn Polk in the second round of the draft, but he's been disappointing to start his career. New England has multiple guys in the wide receiver room, and they won't throw Polk out there due to his draft status.

In a presser on Monday morning, Mayo answered a flurry of questions and spoke about having a veteran like Kendrick Bourne on the field as they look to develop Polk.

He said, "Like I said earlier, Kendrick had a great game and Polk is developing and he will be a good player in this league. As a head coach of this football team we're trying to win games right now and whoever the hot hand happens to be in that situation will play more."

Even though the hope was that Polk would be a focal point of this offense, things haven't transpired like that. This season, he has 11 catches for 80 yards and two touchdowns despite playing the third most snaps on the team (382).

Meanwhile, Bourne made his debut in Week 5 and has compiled 229 snaps over the past few weeks. In six games, he has 13 receptions for 140 yards and one score. In the Week 11 contest against the Rams, Bourne outsnapped Polk 36-31. In that game, he finished with five catches for a season-high 70 yards. While Polk had zero catches and zero yards.

If the production continues to be lopsided like that going forward, Polk will be staying on the sideline.

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