"This is a time when the Patriots need leadership. They need the respected players in the room to take control and help restore some kind of order.

Jerod Mayo knows and understands the dynamic.

Before the season, he was given a more prominent place at the table. He was voted as one of the team's five captains. And before leaving to retirement, Tedy Bruschi passed the leadership torch of the defense to the young linebacker.

The second-year player, however, hasn't shown that he's comfortable enough to openly challenge his teammates, as fellow captain Tom Brady did this week. He hasn't been around long enough to pull a veteran like Adalius Thomas aside and tell him to make nice with Bill Belichick for the good of the team. He's not what you'd call an in-your-face kind of guy.

"It's been rough (from a leadership perspective), but at the same time, the season has a lot of ebbs and flows to it," Mayo said yesterday. "This is one of those down times. New England is not used to going through many down times, but at the same time, we have to right the ship. The weak are going to jump, the other guys are going to stay on board and try to bail this thing out."

What Mayo does is lead by example. He refers to that as his leadership style.

Trouble is, he hasn't had the type of season he envisioned having at the outset. It's also not the season fans expected from last season's NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, even though he currently is tied for the team lead in tackles with Gary Guyton."