Jerod Mayo’s first 12 months as head coach of the New England Patriots has resulted in a whole lot of shedding, and a whole lot of cases the place Mayo has not at all times taken accountability for the group’s failures.
Each of these issues occurred on Sunday in a 30-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
One of many topics Mayo was requested about after the sport was why the Patriots didn’t name for Drake Maye to strive a quarterback sneak when the Patriots had been going through a Third-and-1, after which a 4th-and-1, late within the second quarter.
The trade was extraordinarily weird.
Mayo was requested a follow-up on what he meant by that, and added “the QB clearly has a superb pair of legs. We simply selected to not do it.”
This doesn’t actually clear issues up.
The place this complete trade is weird is Mayo’s preliminary response of “you stated it, I did not” concerning the suggestion that Maye can win.
That appears to suggest that perhaps he doesn’t assume Maye can run (which doesn’t make a lot sense given the way in which he performs) or that Maye doesn’t need to run (which additionally wouldn’t make a lot sense).
Following up by saying “we simply selected to not do it” would then appear to switch the blame to offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. Possibly Van Pelt ought to have known as a run for Maye. Possibly Mayo needed to see that.
The issue with that’s Mayo is the top coach. He has the ultimate say on every thing that occurs on the sphere. If Van Pelt calls a play that Mayo doesn’t like, he has the authority to override and say “do one thing else.” He additionally has the authority to inform Van Pelt, “that is what we’re doing right here on this play.”
That’s the advantage of being the top coach. It’s your group, your recreation to name and your selections to make. You don’t get to shift blame to coaches underneath you when issues don’t work.
This isn’t the primary time Mayo has appeared to exit of his technique to keep away from taking duty this season, having known as his protection “smooth” earlier within the season and in addition saying that after the gamers get out on the sphere there may be nothing he can do for them.
The poor outcomes, lack of progress and Mayo’s willingness to throw all people else underneath the bus is sufficient to make you surprise if he is likely to be a one-and-done head coach in New England. This was at all times going to be a tough 12 months, however it’s going even worse than initially anticipated.
