Jerod Mayo and the New England Patriots have had a rough week. After falling to 1-6 last week, the first-year head coach is making public comments about his team being “soft.”

That created a media hellstorm against the Patriots and Mayo personally. Former New England stars and even Bill Belichick spoke out against Mayo’s comments.

Even Mayo’s job status began to be questioned by the media. That’s how bad the week became for the Patriots and their head coach.

Heading into Week 8 action against the New York Jets, the only way to quiet the outside noise was to get a win. They were not expected to do so, but New England pulled off the upset by a final score of 25-22.

After the game, NFL legend JJ Watt spoke highly of Mayo. In a post on X, Watt gave Mayo high praise for the tactics he used to motivate his team.

“Thanks to Jerod Mayo. His Patriots team responded,” Watt wrote.

It is clear that the messages Mayo sent to his team did get through. They looked more motivated and more alike than they had in the past six weeks.

Even after rookie quarterback Drake Maye had to leave the game due to a concussion, the team rallied around Jacoby Brissett. It seemed like a completely different team.

The moral of this story is that no one knows their team better than a head coach. While the outside media and analysts thought Mayo was going too far, his team responded to him.

It is a great honor for Mayo and the Patriots to be able to weather the media storm and still come out balanced and sharp. Mayo have quieted their doubters with the big win.

Granted, no one should expect New England to reel off five straight wins and get right back into the playoff mix. They’re still likely headed for a rough season and a high draft pick. But they showed development and improvements.

The Patriots just want to get better for the rest of the season. If they can get back into the playoffs next season or the year after, they would be more than happy to do so.

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