The New England Patriots had some obviously holes on the roster when new head coach Jerod Mayo took over. But he does not seem to think they are able to patch all of those holes in just one season.
During a recent interview on WEEI, Jerod Mayo addressed the team’s roster rebuild.
“We had a lot of holes on the roster that we felt, coming out of the draft, that we addressed. Now, free agency, we still felt like we signed the best offensive lineman in Mike Onwenu, and re-signing some of our players, which was definitely part of it,” Mayo said according to Pro Football Talk.
But Mayo had a pretty clear warning for Patriots fans who might expect this rebuild to be a fast process.
“Once again, this isn’t a one-year thing in my mind. It’s going to take time to continue to build out the roster, and that’s how it is,” Mayo said.
Mayo said the players are placing emphasis on allowing young players to prove themselves this season, giving them opportunities to play regardless of what happens during the games.
“From a roster standpoint, just in general, especially with our younger players, we had to see what we have this year, no matter what the record is. When we get out of this season, we need to know exactly what we have from a talent standpoint and then fill the holes that we need to fill,” Mayo said.
As for why the roster needed to be rebuilt in the first place, Mayo was not willing to speak on that or place blame on Belichick.
“You tell me,” Mayo said. “I’m not doing that one.”
We’ll have to see how the rebuild goes for the team.
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