It’s been a rocky start for first-year New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo taking over for the legendary Bill Belichick. But for the most part, Patriots superfan and former Boston Sports Guy Bill Simmons has kept his criticism fairly straightforward amid a poor start to the season.
That changed in Week 7, when after a blowout loss in London to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Simmons took to X (formerly Twitter) to blast Mayo for an assortment of on- and off-field coaching miscues as the Patriots moved to 1-6.
Adding his comments to a post quoting Mayo demanding more from rookie wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk, Simmons wrote, “Hey Mayo, we need more from you actually … You’re only good at throwing shade at everyone else – including the previous coach.”
Hey Mayo, we need more from you actually. Why is your D worse every week? Did Polk jump offside on a PAT to set up a 2 point? Did Polk give up a punt TD? Did Polk call all those shitty run plays? You’re only good at throwing shade at everyone else – including the previous coach. https://t.co/Af68s8WjF2
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) October 20, 2024
The Patriots allowed 171 rushing yards and a long punt return touchdown in their Week 7 loss to Jacksonville, so it was peculiar for Mayo to call out Polk so directly.
Polk did have a bad drop in the game, but only compiled three targets and is, after all, just a rookie.
New England made the move to start rookie quarterback Drake Maye in October, but are now 0-2 with Maye under center. Simmons has been critical of Mayo — and the Patriots’ front office — all season for assembling a poor offensive line and not having a plan to maximize Maye’s rookie year.
But it appears Mayo taking aim at a fan favorite rookie receiver rather than owning up to a bad loss in Europe was the final straw for Simmons to go at the new head coach in a more direct and big-picture manner.
