Patriots’ Jerod Mayo drops scathing Ja’Lynn Polk review after loss to Texans

By starting Drake Maye in Week 6, the Patriots are in an evaluation and developmental mode, as noted by Mayo’s most recent comments about the team’s roster, per his interview on WEEI.

“We had a lot of holes on the roster that we felt, coming out of the draft, that we addressed,” Mayo said. “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. 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.

“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.”

Much of the Patriots’ roster is very young. They have the 12th-youngest average-aged roster in the league. Much of that veteran experience is on defense, so ironing out the wide receiver depth chart and putting pressure on Polk makes sense.

The 2024 second-rounder has a long, lean frame and must grow accustomed to setting the edge and working harder on the fundamentals.

Drake Maye seems to understand the assignment and will grow into the leadership required of his position, given his post-game thoughts after his first start, per Patriots’ X account.

“Most of my friends and family after a loss, they’ll still worry more about the loss than kind of encouraging plays,” Maye said when asked about his emotions following his first start. “That’s kind of the people I’m around. We care about winning. Just hate losing. That’s the big thing.

“I think there’s some good things to take away from it today, and I think back with Coach [Jerod] Mayo, we’ve got to play complementary football, and we haven’t done that.”

The 1-5 Patriots travel to London to play the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 7.