Insider shares bombshell about job security of Patriots' Jerod Mayo

Following a win to open the regular season, the New England Patriots have lost six straight games under first-year head coach Jerod Mayo amid a multi-year rebuild after the team parted ways with legendary coach Bill Belichick. 

Nevertheless, Patriots insider Greg Bedard of Boston Sports Journal believes Mayo could be on the hot seat if the ongoing campaign goes from bad to worse for the club before Week 18 concludes. 

"I think that there were some thoughts during the summer that there were questions going on around the building about whether this was the right thing for the program, there was some second thoughts about it," Bedard said during a Tuesday appearance on Boston sports radio station 98.5 The Sports Hub, as shared by Christian Arnold of the New York Post. "I’ll tell you, it’s my opinion from talking to people that I don’t think Jerod Mayo is assured of a second season if this is a complete dumpster fire." 

Kraft reportedly chose Mayo to serve as Belichick's successor as far back as 2022, and it was no secret this past summer that New England lacked talent on both offense and defense. While the Patriots weren't expected to compete for much of note before 2025, eyebrows were raised when it was said in October that the New England locker room was "teetering on mutiny" as Mayo continued to play veteran quarterback Jacoby Brissett over rookie Drake Maye. More recently, Mayo and Belichick seemed to take public shots at each other over the state of New England's roster and over Mayo calling his team "soft" following its latest defeat. 

"It’s getting worse by the week," Bedard continued, "and you have a coach who just went to the podium and called his players soft and now you have Belichick, the deposed dictator, basically, like, asking for a mutiny to rise up with his comments and whistles that he’s blowing for his guys...I do not think it’s assured that Jerod Mayo is back for a second season, along with a lot of other people in that building."

Bedard added that Robert Kraft and team president Jonathan Kraft will not tolerate being "embarrassed." With that said, the fact that Maye performed admirably across his first two regular-season starts suggests the first-year pro could ultimately help save Mayo's job. 

Maye is expected to remain in the lineup as long as he stays healthy, and he'll get the nod for Sunday's home game against a 2-5 New York Jets team that will be trying to save a once-promising campaign. As of Wednesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Patriots as seven-point underdogs versus the Jets.