Jerod Mayo responds to "hurtful" report that he's rubbed some people the wrong way

FOXBORO -- If the Patriots decide to move on from Bill Belichick at the end of the season, New England linebackers coach Jerod Mayo is a strong candidate to replace him as head coach. Robert Kraft said as much last March, and the sound play of the New England defense throughout a tumultuous 2023 season certainly works in Mayo's favor.

But in a recent report, Greg Bedard of The Boston Sports Journal reported that Mayo has "rubbed at least some people the wrong way in the building" since he signed an extension with the team last offseason. On Tuesday, in a conference call with reporters, Mayo responded to what he called the "hurtful" report.

Mayo does his best to stay away from everything that is written about himself and the team, but it was hard to avoid this particular report.

"Honestly, when that report came out, my brother sent it to me. It was more hurtful than anything," Mayo said Tuesday. "I found it to be -- well the timing of it was a little bit weird in my opinion. And if that was the case, I feel like this would have been leaked some time earlier. 

"At the same time, I try to treat everyone the same way," he continued. "And I will say this, I thought about it for awhile. When people talk about rubbing people the wrong way, I mean, that's part of the job of being a leader, is to rub people the wrong way. And I always try to be constructive and respectful with my feedback. Some people appreciate that transparency. Some don't. But at the end of the day, if we can't rub people the wrong way, how do you expect that you can be the best that you can be? And I would say, anytime there's change, or anything like that, it's going to be painful if someone rubs you the wrong way. At the end of the day, you have to look through all the words that really get to the substance and the meat and potatoes of what that person is trying to say."

While Mayo didn't appreciate seeing such a report, he did say that it helped him in the long run. 

"It triggered a period of self-reflection. I know it's recent -- a week old at this point -- but it triggered an opportunity of self-reflection," he said. "We all have blind spots, and maybe that's one of my blind spots. But at the end of the day, hopefully, whoever put that story out, is man -- or woman enough -- to bring it to my attention to have a conversation."

It was an incredibly honest and solid response from Mayo, who said that he continues to grow as a coach -- and a man.

"Some people are gonna like you, and some people aren't. And I'm OK with that. Some reporters are gonna like you, some reporters aren't. Some players are gonna like you, and some players aren't. But I would hope there would be a mutual level of respect," he said. "A level of respect with the media, a level of respect with the coaches, and also the players. And you know, when it's all said and done, I think the players understand that we, as a coaching staff, are trying to put them in the best possible position to go out there and execute.

"And then from a coaching perspective, I only want people around me that are going to tell me the truth. I don't want to be trapped in an echo chamber or things like that, because we all have blind spots," he added. "You would hope that through building relationships, that people were very open about it, having those 1-on-1 conversations."

Mayo has learned a lot throughout this difficult season, and he is extremely appreciative of the players on the New England defense for remaining committed to their craft despite the overall struggles of the team. He's been incredibly impressed by the resilience of the team overall, which he said is a reflection of the organization as a whole.

"Whether you're talking about players or coaches, that resilience is reflection of the people at the top with the Kraft family and coach Belichick," he said. "I didn't appreciate that as much until we went through this year."