Jerod Mayo has promised that the second half of the Patriots’ season will focus on making positive progress for the future.
His team showed they were sticking to that promise by bouncing back from an overtime loss to Tennessee last week with a dominant 19-3 win over the Chicago Bears. Mayo compared the performance to the season-opening victory against Cincinnati.
While the win doesn’t erase what has been a tough 10 games for the Patriots (3-7), it gives them something to build on.
After starting the season with a win over the Bengals and then losing six straight, New England has now won two of their last three games. Mayo isn’t exactly sure what has changed in the past three weeks, but he said his message to the team remains the same.
“It’s about knowing what the formula is and now applying it on a game-after-game basis,” Mayo said. “This is the formula. As I always say, I use this as a microphone not only to give you guys information, but also to talk to the players. So, players, this is how we need to play going forward.”
The win also marked the first start victory for No. 3 overall draft pick Drake Maye, whose teammates credited him with helping set the tone during practice when he addressed some issues with the offense.
“There’s so many times throughout the game you see how much that play can impact the turnout of the game,” Maye said. “So I was just trying to get through to them and probably fumbled some words trying to do it, but I think those guys respected it.”
What’s working:
After throwing an interception to end the loss against the Titans, Maye was much more effective against the Bears. His stats (15 of 25 for 184 yards and an interception) weren’t eye-catching, but he was perfect on a 10-play, 70-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter, which ended with his 2-yard pass to Ja’Lynn Polk.
