Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo knows that last year the Texans hired a first-year coach, drafted a rookie quarterback, and made the playoffs. He doesn’t necessarily want his own expectations to be set that high.
Mayo said he talked to a fan who said that since the Texans turned things around in Year One with head coach DeMeco Ryans and quarterback C.J. Stroud, the Patriots should be able to do it too. Mayo, however, says that Nick Caserio — whom Mayo worked with in New England — had a longer turnaround than that.
“Remember, Caserio had been building that team for [two] years before they got C.J. Stroud in that position,” Mayo said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN. “So when you look at our team -- I’m not asking for patience, but I kind of am. It’s a process. It’s not only about the quarterback. Obviously you want to have that QB1 and build around him, but it doesn’t always happen when you want it.”
Mayo said that if the Patriots draft a quarterback with the third overall pick, that quarterback might sit as a rookie.
“Look, we could bring a QB in here and he may not be ready to play, realistically,” he said. “That’s why we have a guy like Jacoby [Brissett] coming along. Jacoby is great. He can still play football and also mentor someone in that room, and he has a connection to that offense with [offensive coordinator Alex] Van Pelt, so he can always be that teacher. That’s how we’re looking at it.”
So Patriots fans should not get their hopes up about the 2024 Patriots being as good as the 2023 Texans.
