Jerod Mayo has a problem.

He’s accorded by the pro football cognoscenti and his fellow players as one of the best young linebackers the game. He certainly has the resume: Rookie Defensive Player of the Year in 2008, one Pro Bowl appearance, one All-Pro berth and a spot on the NFL Network’s Top 100 countdown of the best players in the game.

But Mayo has so little interest in self-promotion, he’s not the household name he probably should be. He has zero interest in Twitter, doesn’t aspire to be the national spokesman for anything, doesn’t engage in pregame histrionics with teammates, doesn’t have a patented sack celebration and doesn’t have his own nickname. In fact, the Tennessee product, who plays a position that occasionally requires you to act like Russell Crowe in “Gladiator” to get some ink, is far more understated.

Really, all he cares about is the game.

“The day that he came in to New England,” said former Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi, “I felt like this guy is next in line.”

Bruschi played alongside Mayo and believes that even after three seasons, he is just scratching the surface of what could ultimately be world-class talent.

“He’s done things there in his short career with the Patriots that I wasn’t able to do until my eighth or ninth year or something like that. That’s how far along he is. That’s how good he is,” Bruschi said Monday. “I never had the ability that he has — how fast he is, how big he is and strong. The sky is the limit for him. I truly see him being the best linebacker in the game within two years. I think that’s how good he is.

“No matter what defensive scheme they run,” he added. “They’ll run some 3-4. They’ll run some 4-3 looks. And he can do it on a down-to-down basis. It’s very difficult to do, especially in that system — I know. The sky is the limit for him.”

I truly see him being the best linebacker in the game within two years. Serious stuff from someone who played the position for 13 seasons. But in an NFL world that includes linebackers like Ray Lewis, Clay Matthews, DeMarcus Ware and James Harrison, could Mayo make Bruschi’s prediction come true?

In his first three years, without a dash of self-promotion, he’s certainly made his case to at least be in the Top 10. There are the postseason honors, as well as three straight seasons of 100-plus tackles. And with the fact that he’s (rather remarkably) the second-youngest guy on this list of the best linebackers in the league, you have to believe that Mayo has an excellent chance of cracking the Top 5 sooner rather than later.

But look deeper. Consider the players around him — he’s doing it with a group of linebackers that certainly don’t have the pedigree of the guys in Pittsburgh (Harrison, LaMarr Woodley) or Chicago (Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs). These last two years, he’s been teamed at the linebacker spot with undrafted free agents Gary Guyton and Dane Fletcher, fifth-round pick Rob Ninkovich, seventh-rounder Tully Banta-Cain and rookies like Brandon Spikes and Jermaine Cunningham.

And then, there’s the recent study from Pro Football Focus, where Mayo set the bar for fewest missed tackles among linebackers. In 2010, Mayo missed just three tackles; one in every 48.33 attempts. And there’s the scary pain threshold. His teammates talk about his ability to play through the pain, something that’s allowed him to miss just three games in three seasons despite knee and shoulder problems.

So what could hold Mayo back from fulfilling Bruschi’s prediction? With the expectation that his game will improve in the coming years, one thing that could deny him at least a chance at the top spot is a serious injury. In addition, there’s Mayo’s West Coast counterpoint Patrick Willis, who remains one of the best in the game and could deny Mayo a shot at the top spot despite the fact that he plays for the 49ers, a team that hasn’t had near the success that Mayo has enjoyed since he arrived in Foxboro.

Of course, if Mayo is the centerpiece of a championship team, then the accolades will follow and we’ll wonder why this was even a question in the first place. And there’s always the possibility he could go all Shawne Merriman and bust out a dance after dropping a ballcarrier in the backfield.

But for now, he remains, in the words of Patriots coach Bill Belichick, a “football guy.” And that’s enough.

“Tenth pick in the draft, obviously a big contract, and I think about all he has is two trucks and a house a half mile away from the stadium,” Belichick said. “He kind of keeps it close to the vest. He’s a football guy.”