Patriots Linebacker Says Booing Fans Need To ‘Know Their Place’

Patriots fans frustrated and angered by how the 2024 season has played out will not like what linebacker Jahlani Tavai said Friday morning.

As New England limps to the finish line, staring a 3-14 season in the face, Patriots fans have become increasingly impatient with the rebuilding process. That reached a fever pitch last Saturday when the Los Angeles Chargers won 40-7 at Gillette Stadium. A constant chorus of boos rang out at Gillette Stadium, and some fans even chanted for the team to fire head coach Jerod Mayo.

In a radio spot with WEEI on Friday morning, Tavai fired back at fans for their displeasure with how the 2024 season unfolded.

“There’s a reason why they’re fans … in the long end, they’re not qualified to do what Mayo’s doing,” Tavai said on “The Greg Hill Show” on Friday morning. ” … They’re fans. I appreciate them at times, but sometimes they just gotta know their place and understand it’s a work in progress.”

Saying fans need to “know their place” is going over about as well as one might expect.

Tavai pointed to the Detroit Lions, who are 35-15 over the last three seasons following a 3-13-1 performance in Dan Campbell’s debut 2021 campaign, as a blueprint for these Patriots.

“Rome wasn’t built in one day,” he added. “It’s like I said before in another interview. There have been teams that have shown, work in progress teams, the Lions, like what, four years ago? What was their record? … I’m not trying to compare but that’s a goal of what we’re trying to develop in this new regime.

“That’s the mission, to get how the Lions are improving. That’s the type of team we see ourselves as, as a playoff contender, and unfortunately, that’s not this year.”

Patriots fans undoubtedly have been spoiled over the last 25 years, and no one across the NFL is going to shed a tear now that they have fallen on hard times. However, they also have had to endure some unsightly football dating back to the Bill Belichick era. The Patriots have just 15 total wins over the last three seasons, and entering the 2024 finale, they are 32-51 since Tom Brady left the franchise.

There was no real sign of improvement in Mayo’s first season, unlike Campbell, who had Detroit playing competitive in his first season with the Lions. Patriots owner Robert Kraft believed the Patriots were ready to “kick butt” on Day 1 with Mayo at the helm, and the exact opposite has happened, and that alone explains why fans are fed up with the process.