The New England Patriots are 3-12 heading into the final two weeks of the regular season. In recent weeks, they’ve played competitive football without winning games, the best recipe for Pats fans who want to see development but don’t want to jeopardize a high draft pick.

The first season under Jerod Mayo was always going to be a difficult transition. After winning four games in 2023, the Patriots are on track to win three this season unless they pull off an upset win over the Los Angeles Chargers or Buffalo Bills.

At the same time, the performance of some draft picks was more disappointing than the results. The Patriots used a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft on two wide receivers: Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, respectively. Neither player has performed well so far, with Polk’s playing time particularly disappointing.

The Polk selection with the 37th overall pick comes into focus on Saturday when the Patriots take on the Chargers and WR Ladd McConkey. New England had a chance to draft McConkey with the 34th overall pick, but moved down and grabbed Polk instead. McConkey has been the Chargers’ leading receiver so far, recording 69 catches for 960 yards and five touchdowns.

Understandably, Jerod Mayo was asked about this in his press conference on Thursday. According to MassLive’s Mark Daniels, Mayo said the team did some work on him but decided to look elsewhere.

“We worked on him a little bit (before the draft). He’s a guy who can open man-to-man coverage to keep an eye on.

– Jerod Mayo over WR Ladd McConkey

When asked if passing on McConkey had anything to do with the team having a slot receiver on the roster, Mayo refused to give a convincing answer, saying: “Overall, I would say we always try to improve our roster to improve. What.” The current position can change daily during these times.

That’s not a very satisfactory answer from Mayo. However, it’s important to note that he probably didn’t have much influence in the decision between McConkey and Polk. Maybe one day we can hear from Eliot Wolf about this major design flaw.

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