Rob Gronkowski. Photo Credit: Fox Photo Credit: Fox

On Sunday, the New England Patriots opted to part ways with first year head coach Jerod Mayo shortly after their Week 18 win over the Buffalo Bills.

During the Fox studio halftime show for the Seattle Seahawks-Los Angeles Rams game, Gronkowski, who of course starred for the Patriots for the first nine seasons of his career, detailed why he believed parting ways with Mayo may be a mistaker for the Patriots after only one year.

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“I was shocked by that,” said Gronkowski. “To happen that soon was a shocker to a lot of people. Especially here at the desk. We were all surprised by that. I think it was unfair to Coach Jerod Mayo. I mean, he never had the chance to develop as a head coach. He was just a rookie himself in that department. If you judge a coach by their first year, that’s really not appropriate. Jimmy Johnson, you went 1-15 in your first year and you won a couple Super Bowls after that.”

It seemed like Gronkowski was going to go further in detail about why he believed Mayo got a raw deal before being cut off to go to a commercial break.

Minutes later, Gronkowski did further speak his mind on the matter in a similar segment for the halftime show of the New York Jets-Miami Dolphins game where Gronkowski was slightly less critical, saying that he believes Patriots owner Robert Kraft has a “plan moving forward” that may involve former Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel.

“I was surprised by that,” said Gronkowski. “Rookie head coach. The roster that he was handed wasn’t that prominent. It’s tough, it’s a tough situation in New England. Obviously, Mr. Kraft didn’t see Jerod Mayo being that culture builder that he was hoping to be over the last season. And obviously Mr. Kraft has a plan as well going forward. Probably hoping to get Mike Vrabel. There is some rumbling out there as well that Josh McDaniels may come back as well as offensive coordinator.”

It’s not all that surprising to see Gronkowski sticking up for Mayo considering they did play together for six seasons in New England as teammates.

But even if Gronkowski may have a bit of a bias when it comes to his former teammate, he does raise some valid points about Mayo not having much time to implement a culture in New England. Not to mention much of the roster he had were players from Bill Belichick’s regime.

It’s pretty uncommon for a coach to be relieved of their duties after just one season. Over the last decade, it’s happened to only nine other coaches.

Maybe Robert Kraft wants to get someone he believes can better mentor rookie quarterback Drake Maye in the future. Or perhaps he simply saw that Mayo may be out of his depth as a head coach.

Regardless, Gronkowski’s comments certainly hold a ton of weight with Patriots fans. So it may not be an overly popular decision to part ways with Mayo.

[NFL on Fox]

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.