The Patriots had a winning end to a losing season on Sunday, but beating the Bills proved costly on the team-building front.
If the Pats had lost the game, they would have clinched the first overall pick in April’s draft but they won 23-16 and the Titans will be on the clock to kick things off this spring. With quarterback Drake Maye in place, the Patriots would have had a lot of options open to them with the top pick but head coach Jerod Mayo said that never crossed his mind heading into the game.
“I’ve said this over the last couple of weeks, as a player, as a coach, we always want to go out there and win,” Mayo said.
Mayo said he did not have any conversations with ownership and the front office about the approach to the game. He also faced a question about pulling Maye in favor of Joe Milton — who had not played all season — after one series if his sole goal was trying to win the game.
“I think I’ve said all year, we need to see as the season goes on what we actually have, and it was good to get Joe out there,” Mayo said.
Milton got them a win, but it says a lot about how poorly things went in New England this year that it feels like their biggest loss of all.
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