According to another NFL Network report Monday, Mayo requested an interview with Falcons special teams coordinator Marquice Williams.

Atlanta recently fired head coach Arthur Smith, but blocked the Giants’ request to interview Williams for the same job last week. Mayo’s request indicates he’s also shaking up the Patriots’ coach leadership on special teams, where they finished 28th by DVOA last season and suffered from the worst field goal kicking in the league.

Last year, the Falcons’ special teams finished 27th by DVOA under Williams, who coached a top-5 unit the season before. In 2022, Atlanta scored two special teams touchdowns, one off a punt block and the other on kick return. Williams also coached kicker Younghoe Koo, who has ranked among the league’s best and most consistent kickers for years. At the end of his debut season as special teams coordinator, Williams’ special teams ranked 22nd by DVOA in 2021.

Prior to coaching in Atlanta, Williams was a special teams assistant under ex-Lions coach and Patriots assistant Matt Patricia in Detroit from 2019-20 and coached defense and special teams for the Chargers from 2016-18. Last winter, Williams and the Falcons’ coaches worked at the East-West Shrine Bowl in Las Vegas, where they worked with a team of college prospects opposite Mayo and the Patriots’ staff.