The opening to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft's press conference addressing Jerod Mayo's firing was a breath of fresh air.
Before taking questions, Kraft admitted he was at fault for hiring Mayo to replace legendary head coach Bill Belichick before he was ready to take on the role.
"This whole situation is on me," Kraft said on Monday. "I feel terrible for Jerod. Because I put him in an untenable situation. I know he has all the tools as a head coach to be successful in this league. He just needed more time before taking the job."
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As our Tom E. Curran put it on the latest edition of Quick Slants, that kind of accountability has been in short supply lately at One Patriot Place.
"Say this for Robert Kraft, the owner owned it on Monday," Curran said. "You know, there's been far too little (accountability) over the last half-decade down in Foxboro. The home of 'GOATs' has now become the home of scapegoats.
"It goes back to the end of Bill. Before that. Tom (Brady) blames Bill (Belichick), Bill blames Tom, Robert blames Bill, Bill blames Mac (Jones), Mac blames Matt Patricia. Blame game goes on to now, where Jerod Mayo's getting blamed by personnel for not developing people while Mayo's looking at it and saying, 'I didn't get anyone worth playing here.' He's blaming the players.
"This has to be cleaned up because this franchise is eating its tail. Now, however they're gonna proceed, they better get some unity in there because right now it is, 'Not great, Bob! Not great!'"
🔊 Patriots Talk Podcast: Trying to pin down Patriots' plan for personnel post-Mayo | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
To atone for his Mayo mistake, Kraft must bring in a head coach who can be a culture setter. It will be imperative for the coaching staff and the front office to be on the same page, which did not seem to be the case throughout the tumultous 2024 campaign.
As of Tuesday, Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson appear to be the leading candidates to replace Mayo. The Patriots also reportedly interviewed Byron Leftwich and Pep Hamilton for the job.
Check out the full episode of Quick Slants below or on YouTube:
