Jerod Mayo, like a lot of first-year head coaches in the NFL, is getting a crash course in the finer points of running a team. That was evident once again Thursday morning when he announced the Patriots will start Jacoby Brissett at quarterback.
Mayo wasn't scheduled to speak Thursday, so credit to him and the organization for making that scheduling tweak after he informed the team of his decision to start the journeyman veteran over rookie Drake Maye. However, Mayo's 80-second media availability didn't exactly answer much, and it actually kind of left everyone with even more questions about the decision and process in general.
Mayo's terseness lends itself to nitpicking everything he actually did say. He made it easy to do so with a curious distinction in his opening statement.
"It's a process, as far as selecting who the starting quarterback is," Mayo told reporters at Gillette Stadium. "We have decided -- or I have decided -- that Jacoby Brissett will be our starting quarterback this season."
Given how everything has played out since Mayo ascended to the top spot on the Patriots' coaching staff, that quick change -- from "we" to "I" -- stood out like a sore thumb.
It raises more questions about just how much power Mayo has over his football team, and who exactly is making the decisions. It makes one wonder whether the head coach even has the final say on what the depth chart looks like at the most important position.
Not to mention: Mayo didn't even really answer anything about the process and why Brissett is QB1.
Maybe it's not a huge deal. Mayo is a rookie head coach, working with a de facto rookie general manager in Eliot Wolf, and an executive group that (understandably) wants its team back after two decades of trusting in Bill Belichick. It would be silly to entrust everything to Mayo in a similar fashion, and collaboration rules the day in the modern American workplace, or so we're led to believe.
But Paycor Stadium, where the Patriots open their regular season on Sept. 8 is no conference room. Mayo is ultimately responsible for his team's on-field performance.The decision on who should be under center to start the season is the most important choice Mayo would have to make in his first season as head coach.
Reporters pressed Mayo on the process Wednesday, too. Asked about the collaborative process, Mayo insisted he speaks with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt for input but said "ultimately, it's my decision to make." Asked about Wolf's role in the process, Mayo acknowledged the executive "weighs in" but quickly stated "once again, it's my decision to make. … I would ultimately put it on me."
Yet, one day later, he slips up -- a Freudian slip, perhaps? -- and says it's a "we" thing before quickly correcting himself.
It's also possible he just misspoke Thursday. But given how everything has played out with the Patriots in the last year or so, it's the sort of flub that does make you wonder about who's offering input and who ultimately is making he final call. Mayo only fueled that fire Thursday.
