The Patriots Have Entered the Dreaded 'Team Meeting to Clear the Air' Phase of Their Implosion

All you had to do was look at the NFL schedule when it was released back in May to know it was going to take a lot for the Patriots to become the center of the national conversation the way they used to. Nothing screams "irrelevance" like Sundays at 1, getting the last broadcast crews on the networks' depth charts, and only being seen in certain regions. The best they could reasonably hope for is the occasional appearance in the Quad Box on NFL Red Zone, and maybe people saying good things about our shiny new object, Drake Maye. Beyond that, the 2024 Pats were doomed to be the weird kid with cooties who eats with the lunch lady because no one wants him at the cool kids table with Kansas City and Buffalo. 

That is, until Jerod Mayo pushed his team into the spotlight by calling them "soft." Four seasons of post-Dynasty decline was an interesting story until it wasn't. That narrative got old fast. But a rookie coach degrading his team? Questioning their toughness, commitment, and by extension their manhoods? On foreign soil in front of a bunch of tea sippers who play make believe with kings and princesses, no less? Now that's sexy. That's the kind of thing that will get a 1-6 team talked about by the panel on a prime time postgame show. 

And Richard Sherman and Andrew Whitworth's points are well taken. Mayo's word choice would be one thing if he was speaking with the moral authority to say such things. If he had a fistful of Super Bowl rings and game plans on display in Canton like the guy he replaced, maybe he could get away with it. And "maybe" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence. Especially when you consider his predecessor never once called out his players like that in public. In fact, there were times he threw the anti-Belichick jihadists like Shaughnessy and Masseroti into epileptic fits of rage by refusing to blame anyone but himself, saying it's all on him and he needs to coach better. So Mayo taking the opposite approach after just one career coaching win is why the country is finally interested in the Patriots. 

Which brings us to the whole point of this blog. Which is that the Patriots have entered the worst part of any team's death spiral. The Doom Loop has officially begun. They've gone to the Loser Franchise handbook and turned to the chapter titled "Hold Team Meetings to Clear the Air":

Source - Ja’Whaun Bentley took it upon himself to address the Patriots and coaching staff during a team meeting on Thursday morning. The veteran linebacker and captain, who’s out for the season, spoke up about players speaking out to the media, on social media and ways his teammates can better themselves off the field.

“We just have to hold each other accountable. That’s kind of what Bentley was doing – addressing the elephant in the room,” Kendrick Bourne told MassLive. “’Bro, just be careful.’ You can speak how you feel. I’m mad we’re 1-6. I hate it. But you’re not going to see Kendrick Bourne go out there and not dance. I’m going to dance. That’s who I am. My frustration is not changing who I am. I’m not going to fake being mad That’s not who I am.

“Just those little details of ‘Keep being who you are. Don’t change.’ It’s about your question to holding each other accountable. Be careful when you say that. Be careful when you post that. It’s looking out for your brothers and keep staying together. Things are trying to break us apart and we have to stay together.”

Bentley was likely referring to several Patriots receivers speaking out against the team or on social media. After the team’s loss in London, Ja’Lynn Polk posted a peace sign on his Instagram story. This week, Kayshon Boutte and K.J. Osborn both vented their frustration with their roles on offense.

To be clear, I don't begrudge Ju'Whaun Bentley or Kendrick Bourne for their efforts here. Their intention is noble. In fact, Bentley stepping up here is a reminder that if he hadn't been lost for the season, maybe the defense he left behind wouldn't be getting steamrolled to the tune of 167 rushing yards per game in Weeks 3-7. 

My issues is with team meetings in general. Which are always a sign of desperation every time they're tried, and I can't recall a single concrete example of when they've ever done any good. I forget who said this, but it was a baseball manager - Earl Weaver, maybe? - who said he didn't believe in team meetings because "What happens if you hold one and you lose? What do you do? Hold another one?" Or words to that effect. The point being that they're a fruitless exercise and a waste of time.

Maybe this is just my own personal bias. In my years working for the courts or at WEEI, I never once had a staff meeting that did anybody a damned bit of good. I come from a big Irish family that preferred suppressing our feelings over any sort of air-clearing. Family meetings were something The Brady Bunch did at least once an episode and it was the weirdest, most alien concept I'd ever seen on TV. And it might just be me, but I think by the time you're talking about elephants in the room, it's already too late. The proper time to address an elephant is before someone brings it into the room. 

So good luck with this. Kendrick Bourne is going to address Kendrick Bourne in the 3rd person and he's doing to dance when his team is getting its brakes beaten off and Ja'Lynn Polk, Kayshon Boutte and KJ Osborn are going to talk like they're the 2007 Randy Moss of their generation. But unless the team as a whole figures out how to win the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, all the meetings and all the addressed elephants in the world aren't going to get them to a second win.