The New England Patriots surprised a lot of people with their instant decision to fire Jerod Mayo after the regular season concluded, but it seems like this was building for quite some time.

Mayo went just 4-13 in his debut campaign as Patriots coach and made a plethora of mistakes, both with his mouth and in X’s and O’s.

While owner Robert Kraft acknowledged that Mayo wasn’t exactly put in the best position to succeed this season, New England defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. doesn’t necessarily feel like the players were responsible for Mayo’s dismissal.

When asked about the situation, Wise gave a very honest response.

“I don’t think anybody here feels (we didn’t perform),” Wise told reporters. “We all put our best foot out there. We all gave it our all every single time, everything we wanted to do, we did it with the mind and goal set to win. And that’s kind of my mindset.”

Wise did go on to say that “nobody wanted” Mayo to get canned, but he also wasn’t ready to fall on the sword for the now-former head coach, either.

The 30-year-old logged 29 tackles and five sacks for the Pats this season.

Wise, who played his collegiate football at Arkansas, was selected by the Patriots in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

He has spent his entire career in New England, and while he has never made a Pro Bowl, he has been a consistent contributor along the Pats’ defensive front.

Wise’s best campaign came in 2022, when he racked up 59 tackles and 7.5 sacks.

The Suffolk, Va. native is slated to hit free agency, and given his age, there is a good chance that he may follow Mayo out the door.