The New England Patriots continue to be in the doldrums of the NFL. Coming out of the Week 14 bye, the club was shellacked on the road at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals in a game where the 30-17 final score wasn't indicative of how far apart these two teams really are. While it was more of the same for New England on the field, it was also more of the same for first-year head coach Jerod Mayo at the podium.
After the loss, Mayo was asked about a specific instance on offense during the first possession of the second half. New England was faced with a third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 situation from the Arizona 4-yard line and were unable to move the chains, turning the ball over on downs. When asked if the team considered running quarterback Drake Maye instead of using theirs backs up the middle, to no avail, Mayo replied, "You said it, I didn't."
While Mayo did later say that it is "always my decision" when asked about the play-calling, that comment was construed as blatant and public criticism of the play-calling at that juncture, putting offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt in the crosshairs.
When speaking to the media on Monday morning, less than 24 hours after those comments, Mayo explained he wasn't trying to take a jab at Van Pelt.
"I know there's a lot of chatter about the question last night of, 'You said that.' I didn't mean anything by that," Mayo said. "It was more of a defensive response. Ultimately, and I tried to clarify that with the follow-up question, all of those decisions are mine. I just wanted to get that out there."
Mayo was then asked what he meant by a defensive response.
"It was just more of, I didn't mean anything by it," he said. "I just was like, 'You said it' because I didn't want to go down that whole rabbit hole trying to explain all those things. Like I just said, I tried to clarify that with the follow-up question, saying that all of those critical situations fall on me."
Mayo later added: "We have quarterback-designed runs, just haven't pulled them out yet, so there's no disagreement. We're all on the same page. I think Alex and the offensive staff do a good job putting together the game plan. I go in there, I offer my two cents and we come out of the room as a unit, all on the same page."
The Patriots are averaging 17 points per game this season, which is the second fewest in the entire league. They are also averaging just 4.8 yards per play, which ranks as the fourth fewest.