The Texans became the first team since the 2021 Buffalo Bills to score 40 points or more against the Patriots, and Jerod Mayo expressed frustration with the performance after the game, Khari A. Thompson of the Boston Globe reports.

The Patriots committed nine penalties, including six during the first half. That number is too high, Mayo said, and it’s part of the “same old story” of what the Patriots are doing wrong week after week.

He also mentioned that the Patriots turned the ball over four times, compared to just one turnover for the Texans.

Mayo, who coached linebackers with the Patriots for several years before being promoted to head coach, offered a blunt critique of his defense.

“Defensively I would say just the fundamentals of just tackling, our run fits have to improve,” Mayo said. “They have to improve. I told all those guys, I said, ‘You should feel like crap today. You should feel like crap.’ You take away those two long runs, we [allowed] two runs over 50 yards. That’s just not winning football.”

The Patriots showed some encouraging things on offense with rookie quarterback Drake Maye starting under center for the first time, Mayo said, but it wasn’t enough.

“I thought he showed a lot of poise,” Mayo said. “I thought he went out there and controlled the huddle, got those guys out of the huddle and once again, made some plays.”

“It’s definitely encouraging. From a team-wide perspective right now, we let him down. It was his first game, and I feel like I let him down. I’m sure all the coaches feel like we let everyone down. We’ve just got to be better.”

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