The New England Patriots put on another lackluster performance Sunday in Arizona, but head coach Jerod Mayo's questionable postgame remarks overshadowed anything that transpired on the field.
After the 30-17 loss, Mayo was asked by NBC Sports Boston's Phil Perry about a consequential sequence in the third quarter. The Patriots trailed the Cardinals 16-3 and faced a third-and-1 from Arizona's 4-yard line. Antonio Gibson and Rhamondre Stevenson were stuffed for no gain on third and fourth down, resulting in a turnover on downs and a missed opportunity for New England.
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Did Mayo consider running the ball with his 6-foot-4, 225-pound quarterback Drake Maye in those short-yardage situations?
"You said it. I didn't," Mayo answered.
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That bizarre response seems like a clear shot at offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. Perry and fellow NBC Sports Boston Patriots insider Tom E. Curran dissected Mayo's statement on Patriots Postgame Live.
"We should have been talking about the football game and the things the Patriots didn't do well to start their four-game stretch, and instead we're gonna talk about a situation that Jerod Mayo made worse," Curran said. "He should be talking about those aspects, and if he's gonna say continually, 'These are my decisions, I'm gonna make these decisions, they all start and end with me,' to take a question and then infer that, 'Yeah, you're right, we should have run Drake Maye,' that undercuts the entire thing and undercuts Alex Van Pelt. And to then circle back and later say, 'Yeah, it's all on me,' it is again another rake stepped on.
"But this is probably the most prominent rake because Alex Van Pelt, if you don't want him to call those plays, if you don't want him to run it inside the red zone, tell him, 'Don't run it inside the red zone, we're not doing that anymore.' So this, to me, unfortunately, is probably the biggest rake that Jerod has stepped on. It really is going to invite more dysfunction than I think they have experienced the entire year."
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Earlier in the season, after Maye suffered a concussion, Van Pelt expressed being cautious about drawing up designed run plays for the rookie QB. Perry believes the reluctance to unleash Maye's athleticism has caused some friction on the Patriots coaching staff.
"I think he's frustrated. I think he doesn't make a comment like that unless maybe this has been building," Perry said of Mayo. "This is a question that I have been asking not only Jerod Mayo but also Alex Van Pelt and Drake Maye for weeks, over a month now. When are you actually gonna run this guy? Clearly, he's one of the best athletes you have. Clearly, this is a skill that he possesses, that can be really difficult for opposing defenses to defend, because I've had opposing defenses that the Patriots have had on the schedule this year tell me, 'Thank God they're not running design runs for Drake Maye because that stuff is really tough on us.' So I'm asking, and I'm asking, and I'm asking. They have already determined that they're not doing this thing anymore about protecting Drake Maye, and he scrambles enough as it is, and so we're not gonna call designed runs. They've all acknowledged that they want to get these designed runs into the game.
"And so for me, this is not necessarily a one-off from Jerod Mayo. I predict he'll walk the comments back tomorrow as we've heard him do many times this year. But I think this is probably a conversation that they've been having for a long time. Short yardage, critical situations on the goal line. These are the types of quarterback runs that we have at our disposal, and the fact that it wasn't used here in a critical situation, to me, leads to that moment of frustration that I think is what that was, boiling over. I think this has been building for some time."
For what it's worth, Maye is open to being utilized as a runner in short-yardage situations.
"Yeah, that's a good point. I was a good quarterback-sneaker in college," he said postgame. "I'm a big dude. I'm heavier than people think. So I think there's maybe a conversation for that. I think it's tough to stop a 6-foot-5 dude for one yard.
Now 3-11 on the season, the Patriots wrap up Sunday with the third pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. They'll look to clean things up both on and off the field before heading to Buffalo for a tough Week 16 showdown with the 11-3 Bills.
