"Ever get a B-minus on a test or polite applause after a middling karaoke performance?

That's how Jerod Mayo feels about his rookie season.

Even after being named Defensive Rookie of the Year, Mayo offered what amounted to a shrug yesterday when discussing his 2008 campaign. It was as if his 128 tackles and wire-to-wire starting job never happened.

"To be honest, I feel like I can get so much better," the Patriots linebacker said following a workout. "Last year, I felt like the season I had was OK, but I felt like I could have made so many more plays, big plays, especially."

Mayo is well aware his final stats showed only a single forced fumble and recovery. He had no interceptions or sacks, and he isn't about to let the fact that he wasn't asked to blitz up the middle let him off the hook.

"Playing linebacker, that's the type of thing that you're expected to do - make interceptions, force fumbles and things like that," he said. "That's one aspect of my game I'm looking forward to improving this year."

In an effort to improve, Mayo has spent virtually the entire offseason in Foxboro, working out daily at Gillette Stadium and pushing himself to be better than he was during his much-heralded rookie season, which included a monster 20-tackle game against the Jets.

When he says last year wasn't good enough, he means it. He comes by his intense drive honestly.

"I got that from my mother," he said. "I could go out there and have 50 tackles in a game and she would say, 'You missed three.' That's just the way it was at home.""