Patriots Linebacker Tells Fans Booing at Gillette Stadium to 'Know Their Place'

New England is just 3–13 heading into Week 18.

Tavai leads the Patriots in tackles this season. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

All is not well in and around Foxborough, Mass. these days. The Patriots are just 3–13, their roster is devoid of top-tier talent, and head coach Jerod Mayo is firmly on the hot seat.

And now? There seems to be a divide between players and fans. After plentiful boos and "Fire Mayo" chants from the Gillette Stadium during their 40–7 loss to the Chargers last Saturday, linebacker Jahlani Tavai says Pats fans need to "know their place":

"There's a reason why they're fans," he said when asked about the fans during his weekly hit with WEEI's The Greg Hill Show on Friday. "Everybody can say what they think that we should be doing... in the long end, they're not qualified to do what Mayo is doing, or whatever the Krafts are doing, you know? They're fans. I appreciate them at times, but sometimes they just gotta know their place and just understand that it's a work in progress."

What does Tavai think of some of his teammates being frustrated with fans 'booing'? Should fans "Know their place"? #NFL @WEEI pic.twitter.com/P2BrK2Ovcm

— The Greg Hill Show (@TheGregHillShow) January 3, 2025

Not great.

Patriots coach Jerod Mayo has since responded to Tavai's comments:

"I’ve handled this internally," he told reporters just a few hours later. "We had a conversation and I’ll keep that in-house.”

"For the fans, I've said this before, I'm a fan of different things too," Mayo continued. "No one's happy. No one's happy with our record, no one's happy with where we are right now. And the fans, look they pay the bills. They come in here and they demand us to go out there and perform well and we haven't done that this year."

With New England set to take on the Buffalo Bills in their season finale on Sunday from Gillette Stadium, we'll see how the fans show up for this one—if they do at all.

A loss secures the Patriots the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

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