Mayo is viewed by many as the potential successor to Bill Belichick.

With plenty of uncertainty and question marks surrounding the future of Bill Belichick and the rest of the New England Patriots coaches, most on the staff have refrained from reading into articles or social media posts at this time of the year.

But, one report specifically made its way across the desk of assistant coach Jerod Mayo, who is viewed by many as the potential favorite to success Bill Belichick, that particularly bothered him.

It came from the Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Bedard, who reported that Mayo has “rubbed at least some people the wrong way in the building” since getting his new contract extension in the offseason.

“Honestly, when that report came out, my brother sent it to me — it was more hurtful than anything,” Mayo said Tuesday when asked about the report. “I found it to be, well, the timing was a little bit weird in my opinion. And, if that was the case, I feel like this would’ve been leaked sometime earlier.

“At the same time, I try to treat everyone the same way. And I will say this: I thought about it for a while. When people talk about ‘rubbing people the wrong way’ — obviously, sometimes, that’s part of the job of being a leader, is to rub people the wrong way. And I always try to be constructive and respectful in my feedback. And some people appreciate that transparency, and some don’t. But at the end of the day, if we can’t rub people the wrong way, how do expect to be the best that you can be? And I would say anytime there’s change or anything like that, like, it’s gonna be painful. Someone’s gonna rub you the wrong way. At the end of the day, you have to look through all the words and really get to the substance, or get to the meat and potatoes of what that person is trying to say.”

While Mayo originally felt hurt by the report, he went on to then share how it positively impacted him moving forward.

“So, it actually helped me — it kind of triggered a period of self-reflection,” he added. “And I know it’s recent, I think it’s like a week old at this point. But it triggered an opportunity for self-reflection. And we all have blind spots, and maybe that’s one of my blind spots. But at the end of the day, hopefully, whoever put that story out is man or woman enough to bring to my attention to have a conversation.”

Part of that self-reflection as both a man and a coach included a period of time that Mayo described as an “emotional rollercoaster”.

“I went through the whole emotional like this cycle,” he said. “First of all, being angry: angry at the point where I feel like I always treat people the same and I really haven’t changed in regards to that. Now, I have evolved as a coach. I have evolved as a man in my mid-30s. But at the same time, I would just hope that going forward those people give me an opportunity to explain myself and also an opportunity to try to get on the same track.

“At the end of the day, though, some people are gonna like you and some people aren’t. And I’m OK with that. Some reporters are gonna like you. Some reporters aren’t. Some players are gonna like you and some players aren’t. But I would hope there will be a mutual level of respect, level of respect with the media, level of respect with the coaches, and also the players. And you know, when it’s all said and done, I think the players understand that we, as a coaching staff, are trying to put them in the best possible position to go out there and execute.

“And then from a coaching perspective, I only want people around me that are gonna tell me the truth. I don’t wanna be trapped in the echo chamber and things like that because we all have blind spots… But you would hope that through building relationships that people were very open about it and having those one-on-one conversations.

“But honestly, when those sources come out, it’s like you look around, it’s like ‘Who would say something like that?’ But at the end of the day, it is what it is and, and I’ve taken that in and tried to absorb it. [I] went through the whole emotional rollercoaster and [am] trying to push forward.”