Jahlani Tavai fires back at booing fans: ‘They have to know their place’

During a 40-7 blowout loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, New England Patriots fans were not shy of voicing their displeasure as boos and “Fire [Jerod] Mayo” chants rang through the Gillette Stadium stadium.

Multiple Patriots players have voiced their displeasure with the fan reactions, most recently coming from linebacker Jahlani Tavai on WEEI, who even had choice words for one specific fan on Saturday.

“There’s a reason why they’re fans,” Tavai said Friday morning. “Everybody can say what they think that we should be doing. In the long end, they’re not qualified to do what Mayo is doing, or whatever the Pats are doing. The fans, I appreciate them at times, but sometimes they just have to know their place and just understand that it’s a work in progress. Rome wasn’t built in one day.”

Speaking shortly after Friday morning, Mayo shared he had a private conversation with Tavai that would stay internal. But the head coach, who said the paying fans have the right to voice their displeasure after the game, understands where they are coming from.

“I’ve handled that internally. We had a conversation about it, so I’m going to keep that in house,” Mayo said. “I will say this, look, for the fans — I’ve said this before. I’m a fan of different things, too. Look, no one’s happy, no one’s happy with our record, no one’s happy where we are right now.

“The fans, look, they pay the bills, they come in here, they demand us to go out there and perform well, and we haven’t done that this year. So, look, I understand.”

Tavai was one of several Patriots defenders who voiced displeasure with the fan base. That included veterans Davon Godchaux and Deatrich Wise, who noted how some fans may be “spoiled” before saying his words were “misused” on WEEI on Friday.

“I’ve talked to the guys about how — look, they’re getting caught up in trying to defend me,” Mayo said. “I’ve told them, look, I appreciate it, but at the same time, the fans are the most important thing here. They want to see good football, and they want to see wins.”

When defending Mayo, Patriots players have noted other team around the league that have turned it around under a challenging first year with a new head coach. Dan Campbell’s Detroit Lions have been the biggest comparison after they went 3-13-1 in Campbell’s first season.

After just missing the playoffs his second season after a 1-5 start, the Lions name the NFC Championship Game last season and now are 14-2 this season.

Tavai was originally with the Lions during Campbell’s first season in 2021 before released after training camp before joining the Patriots.

“Like I said before in another interview, there have been teams that have shown — a work-in-progress team; the Lions, four years ago when Dan Campbell took over, what was their record [3-13-1]? Then these past 2 years, I’m not trying to compare, but that’s a goal we’re trying to develop here in this new regime,” Tavai said on WEEI. “That’s the mission — to get to how the Lions are improving. That’s the type of team we see ourselves as — a playoff contender. Unfortunately, that’s not this year.”

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