Patriots 2024: Is this 'chicken and beer' all over again?

A comment by Kendrick Bourne this week caught my attention. It, actually, gave me a bit of PTSD. It sounded familiar.

Bourne told the Boston Herald following New England’s 32-16 loss that he questioned the attitude and professionalism of some of his teammates while in London and, I assume, even before that. He questioned players' off-the-field choices. He hinted that players were staying out past curfew. It was pretty damning.

“Rather than staying up all night, or eating whatever. Whatever it is, whatever makes us be better, we have to make those decisions to be better so when we get (to the games), we can do better.”

Eating whatever. Eating whatever.

Where had I heard this before? It sounded so familiar. I thought and thought and thought. Then it hit me.

Chicken and beer! That’s it!

Then I came to the realization that the way this season is shaking out is eerily reminiscent of the 2011 “Chicken and Beer” and, especially, the 2012 Bobby Valentine Red Sox teams.

The 2011 Red Sox fell apart in September. They became the first team in MLB history to be leading their division by nine games or more in September and fail to make the playoffs.

That part isn’t relevant. Well, it is if you compare how bad the Red Sox team record was at the end of the Francona era with how bad Bill Belichick left the New England Patriots. Belichick's record in his final year with New England was 4-13.

The Red Sox were a horrible team down the homestretch in Francona's last year. They went 7-20 in the final 27 games. It was inexplicable how a team could be that bad.

Or maybe it was. A couple of weeks after the season ended, stories broke out that certain players were eating Popeye’s chicken, guzzling beers, and playing video games in the clubhouse on days they weren’t scheduled to play.

Does that sound similar to what Kendrick Bourne was insinuating?

It became obvious that Terry Francona had lost control of his team. Theo Epstein knew something was wrong. At the end of the year, he said he always knew there were underlying issues with the team that were being masked when they were winning.

When Bobby Valentine was introduced as the new manager in 2012 replacing Francona, he admitted, “There may have been a couple of characters who got out of line. There might have been situations that got spinning too fast. I don’t know, but I am looking forward to working with this group and establishing a culture of excellence.”

Valentine was a disaster. Boston sports media had a field day with Valentine. He was brutally honest. He had no filter. He had no problem calling out his players in the media. Valentine was great for the media, but he was horrible for the Red Sox.

The players had a problem with Valentine not being shy about voicing his grievances, especially Kevin Youkilis. Valentine had no problem calling out his players in public.

The team started out 4-10 that year. Valentine went on his weekly radio interview spot on WEEI and called out Youkilis for not coming into the season physically and mentally ready.

Dustin Pedroia was quoted in the locker room around this team as saying that the way Valentine was trying to run the team is "not the way things are done around here." He added that Valentine would have to change his ways and adapt.

There were so many off the field issues that year. You just never knew what you were going to wake up to.

Josh Beckett missed a start in June, supposedly due to a sore back, but was seen out on a golf course the next day.

Bobby Valentine showed up late to the stadium on game day in Seattle in early September and blamed it on airport delays and traffic. Later that week he threatened to punch WEEI host Glenn Ordway for "questioning his integrity" after being asked if had checked out on the season.

When Johnny Pesky passed away during the season, only four players showed up at the funeral of the Red Sox legend. Not that it needed to be done, but it should have been mandated by management that all players had to attend.

Valentine, to this day, has never taken any blame for the disastrous 2012 season. In the documentary, “The Bobby Valentine Experience,” he came up just short of accepting blame by saying, “Maybe I handled it wrong. I don’t know. I don’t think I did.”

He blamed Youkilis. He blamed his first year GM, Ben Cherington, for trading away his best players and not giving him anything in return. He blamed the previous manager for the poor culture permeating the clubhouse. He blamed his coaches, claiming many of them refused to speak to him during the season, even refusing to say hi to him in the hallways.

That Red Sox team finished 69-93. It was the most losses for the Red Sox in a season since 1966. Valentine was fired the day after the season ended.

Michael Holley, who was a talk show host on WEEI at that time, was quoted in that documentary as saying, “It is not even debatable, this is the worst team we’ve seen in New England. End of debate. You said [in] the 21st century, maybe ever.”

Today, Jerod Mayo says to Michael Holley, “Michael, hold my beer.”

Like Valentine, Mayo also took over for a legendary coach/manager who had a disappointing end to his overall extremely successful Hall of Fame career.

Mayo came in very confident. He came in thinking he would do things different, and better, than the previous regime.

But things have spiraled downhill rapidly for Mayo this year, and not just on the field. The team has gone 1-6 on the field, and the team is getting worse, not better. They are headed for their worst record in over 30 years – when they went 2-14 in 1992 and 1-15 in 1990.

The media does love Mayo. He has been far more accessible than his predecessor.

In one of his first interviews after being announced as Patriots’ head coach, Mayo said the Patriots were going to use their cap space and sign some top tier free agents, “We are ready to burn some cash.”

He later backtracked, “That was a rookie mistake by me. We have to be smart. Once again, the burning of cash was a mistake, in saying that, we do have cash and we’ll spend it on guys that we see make this team better.”

He has been openly critical of players and coaches in the media, just like Valentine was with Youkilis. Mayo called his team “soft” after their latest defeat in London. Calling a grown man “soft” is one of the most insulting things you can say to a person, especially a football player. 

Again, he tried backtracking a day later, by saying that the players weren’t soft, but that they “were playing soft.” Too late. As they say, the toothpaste is out of the tube. You can’t put it back in.

The way he handled the announcement of Drake Maye as the starting quarterback was botched up. The announcement came on a day off for the Patriots’ players. Many of them found out the news through social media, just like the rest of us.

Mayo’s sideline demeanor was called into question this week by CLNS’ Taylor Kyles. Kyles noted Mayo’s isolation and stoicism on the sidelines. Kyles, then, had the audacity to ask Mayo what does he actually do on the sideline during games. Kyles asked if it wouldn’t be better to switch up his style and get more involved with his players and coaches.

I give credit to Mayo for answering the question. I would have been insulted. Mayo rebutted by saying that he communicates with his coaches during the games via his headset and that he is involved in all aspects of the game.

Off the field, the Patriots took a huge PR hit when one of their captains, Jabrill Peppers, got arrested in early October for allegedly possessing cocaine and strangling his girlfriend in a jealous rage.

Players have had a lot more freedom to express themselves under Mayo than they did under Belichick. Not surprisingly, players have run with the opportunity.

Demario Douglas came out after the second game criticizing coaches for not getting him the ball more.

This week, Kayshon Boutte, who was lucky to even make the roster after camp, expressed frustration that he wasn’t getting the ball more, saying, 

“I’ve caught every ball that’s thrown to me this season. So, I feel like I would always go to the sideline and demand the ball. So, whether it was that deep ball – I asked for that. The Texans game, I asked for that. So, I feel I shouldn’t have to really ask.”

Who are you, Kayshon, to speak like that and demand things? Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt was asked about Boutte’s criticism this week, and his response was weak. AVP, basically, said that every wide receiver always feels like he deserves the ball more. I would have told Boutte to shut up and do your job and be happy to have a roster spot.

Davon Godchaux has come out numerous times calling his teammates “selfish.” This coming from a guy who has held out the last two years wanting more money.

Defensive lineman, Daniel Ekuale, another guy who may not be an the active roster if Christian Barmore were healthy, criticized teammates this week by saying, “A lot of guys think too highly of themselves.”

There are, obviously, issues in the locker room as Ja’Whaun Bentley called a team meeting this week to address the “elephant in the room.” Bentley is out for the season with a torn pec. It says a lot about the current team that an inactive player has to be the one to call a players-only meeting.

It shows an admission of a bigger problem on this team. There is no leadership on the team. Much like Francona and Valentine lost control of the 2011/2012 Red Sox clubhouses, Mayo has no control and is in way over his head. He is drowning and there is no one to throw him a lifeline.

Francona, Valentine, and Epstein all used the same term when describing those turbulent seasons. They all said things "spiraled out of control" and there was nothing they could do to stop it. That is what is happening now with the Patriots. Has it got to the point where there is nothing that can be done to stop it – short of firing Mayo, his staff, and the front office?

I get it. I was a restaurant manager for thirty years. I am not comparing the two, but managing people is the same no matter what line of work. I know how hard it is to balance fifty-plus personalities and get them all on the same page to achieve a singular goal.

I’ve seen the change in the work force over the years. It has been dramatic. 

A management style that worked as recently as 10-15 years ago does not work today. Maybe the final year of Terry Francona represented that moment things changed.

Valentine’s old school approach – he was a protege of Tommy Lasorda --didn’t work in 2012. It worked in 2000 when he won the National League pennant in 2000 with the Mets. But the last time he had managed in the major leagues before being hired by the Red Sox in 2012 was 2002. A lot changed in ten years.

Belichick’s old school approach stopped working years ago. Even the great Tom Brady got tired of his act. Players have been “quiet quitting” long before society coined the term.

Managing is harder than it has ever been. Employees are more entitled than ever. They all think they are better than they are. Social media is an avenue for employees to voice their displeasure. “Disrespect” is a word that gets thrown around anytime an employee doesn’t get their way.

Mayo came into this job with a CEO mentality. His business model was to name assistant coaches and hold them, entirely, accountable for the success or failure of their department.

He thought he could just sit on a throne high above his empire and oversee the entire operation. He thinks all he needs to do during games is click some buttons on his headset to check in with what his assistant coaches are thinking.

He thinks he can communicate with his players through the media instead of having direct one-on-one discussions with them. He thought he would make more friends in the media by answering all their questions completely and honestly. 

He thought he could trust his players by giving them the freedom to show their personalities by doing interviews, posting on social media, and doing podcasts.

He has been wrong much more than he has been right.

There is a balance that needs to be found. Being a disciplinarian does not mean benching Rhamondre Stevenson for an opening drive in the following game after he has fumbled in four consecutive games. 

Being a disciplinarian does not mean saying there were going to be changes in the starting lineup and having that one change be benching Raekwon McMillan at middle linebacker.

If Mayo cannot make the adjustments and rein his team in, with all apologies to Michael Holley, this 2024 Patriots team will be the worst team in New England sports history. Jerod Mayo will forever have his name attached to that.

If Mayo doesn’t make the adjustments, he will, or should, suffer the same fate as Bobby Valentine – one and done.