Jerod Mayo Addresses Patriots 'Biggest Issue'

New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo provided his candid thoughts on a very big problem the team had in its Week 3 loss to the New York Jets.

Sep 19, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo pre game against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images / Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo was a Pro Bowl linebacker during his NFL playing days, so it's not surprising that the Patriots' putrid defensive display against the New York Jets on Thursday night seriously aggravated him.

New England missed a hefty 14 tackles in its 24-7 loss to the Jets, and afterward, Mayo provided his very candid thoughts on the ineptiude.

"It was very uncharacteristic," Mayo said, via Keagan Stiefel of NESN.com. "It's one of the things I'm very disappointed in as a defensive minded head coach -- especially the second level."

Mayo led the league with 174 tackles during the 2010 campaign, so he knows a thing or two about properly wrapping up a ball carrier.

"The biggest issue, in my opinion, was tackling," Mayo said. "We couldn't tackle. We didn't tackle. We haven't really had that problem up until this point, so we have to get that corrected. ... It just came down to tackling the ball carriers, controlling the line of scrimmage, things that we've done up until this point, and we’ve just got to get better.

The Pats were missing star linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley, so that definitely was a factor. The problem is that Bentley is going to be sidelined for the remainder of the season, so the Patriots must get this -figured out.

Overall, New England gave up 400 yards of total offense to New York, which scored touchdowns in each of the first three quarters. The Jets racked up 27 first downs compared to just 11 for the Pats and also held the ball for over 40 minutes.

On top of that, the Patriots allowed Gang Green to go 10-for-15 on third downs.

Things won't get any easier for New England next Sunday when it remains on the road to battle the San Francisco 49ers.

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