Mayo causes unnecessary confusion with the Stevenson-Gibson confusion originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Jerod Mayo made his first mistake even before the New England Patriots took a hit against the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday.
Around 30 minutes before kick-off at Gillette Stadium, Mayo told The Sports Hub’s 98.5 pre-game radio show that Antonio Gibson would start coming back to Rhamondre Stevenson. The announcement was not necessarily surprising, since Mayo suggested earlier in the week that Stevenson could be benched after losing his seventh fumble of the season against the Buffalo Bills last Sunday.
When the game began, however, it was Stevenson in the backfield for New England’s first offensive drive, and Gibson watched from the sideline as Stevenson picked up a 5-yard gain on the Patriots’ first play in melee.
The about-face baffled NFL Network color analyst Ross Tucker, who suggested Mayo also told the broadcast team that Gibson would start in place of Stevenson. So why this sudden change?
Mayo didn’t provide many answers after the game.
“It was just a coaching decision,” the Patriots head coach told reporters during his postgame press conference. “The coach’s decision.”
When asked what prompted Stevenson to replace Gibson – and if anything had happened in the 30 minutes before kick-off that could have led to the change – Mayo was once again tight-lipped.
“I understand the question,” Mayo responded. “Look, it’s coach’s decision. So I’ll leave it at that.”
It’s a totally unsatisfactory explanation for a strange controversy entirely attributable to Mayo. If the first-year head coach had simply said he would decide from kickoff who would start at running back – or if he had simply not announced that Gibson would start – we wouldn’t have this conversation. However, by saying one thing and doing another, Mayo makes himself and his coaching staff seem dysfunctional.
And by refusing to provide details after the game, he opens the door to all kinds of speculation about why Stevenson started in place of Gibson – an otherwise minor development that had no bearing on Patriots’ lopsided 40-7 loss.
“It’s just an unforced error,” Patriots insider Tom E. Curran said of Mayo’s decision. Patriots post-game live. “If you don’t start (Stevenson), or if you want to start him, the game doesn’t depend on that conversation. Everybody understands that this guy is going to play football that day. He’s one of your best players. So when someone says, “Who starts?” Say, “I haven’t decided yet.”
“There’s no need to make it a one-car accident, that’s what he’s done by giving an answer he can’t stick to.”
Stevenson finished with one rushing yard on two carries – his only other carry after his 5-yard gain was a 4-yard loss – while Gibson totaled 63 yards on 12 attempts.