What Does the Future Hold for Jerod Mayo in New England Patriots Defense?

September 15, 2015   ·   Erik Frenz   ·   Jump to comments

For the past two seasons, New England Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo has had his season cut short by an injury. In 2015, his season might be limited in a different fashion.
On Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mayo played only nine defensive snaps, according to stats website Pro Football Focus. That's the lowest snap count for any linebacker that actually participated on defense.
Why so limited? 
For starters, Mayo is returning from a torn patellar tendon. He's not an old man by any stretch, but at 29 years old, he's no spring chicken either. He has missed a lot of time over the past two seasons between the knee injury that cut his 2014 season short in Week 6 and a torn pectoral muscle that also cut his 2013 season short in Week 6.
In Mayo's absence, young linebackers Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins stepped up in big ways to become leaders of the defense. Collins wore the green dot helmet as the communicator with the coaches on the sideline las...

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