Mayo is causing unnecessary confusion with the Stevenson-Gibson mix-up that originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Jerod Mayo made his first mistake before the New England Patriots even got a shot in the arm against the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday.
About 30 minutes before kickoff at Gillette Stadium, Mayo told 98.5 The Sports Hub’s pregame radio show that Antonio Gibson would start at running back over Rhamondre Stevenson. The announcement wasn’t necessarily surprising, as Mayo suggested earlier this week that Stevenson could be benched after losing his seventh fumble of the season against the Buffalo Bills last Sunday.
When the game started, 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 five-yard gain on the Patriots’ first play from scrimmage.
Flipped NFL Network color analyst Ross Tucker, who suggested Mayo also told the broadcast crew that Gibson would start in place of Stevenson. So, why this sudden turnaround?
Mayo didn’t provide many answers after the match.
“That was just a coach’s decision,” the Patriots head coach told reporters at his post-game press conference. “Coach’s decision.”
When asked what led to Stevenson bringing up Gibson – and whether anything happened in the 30 minutes before kick-off that could have led to the change – Mayo again remained tight-lipped.
“I understand the question,” Mayo replied. “Look, it’s a coach’s decision. So I’ll leave it at that.”
That’s a completely unsatisfactory explanation for a strange controversy created entirely by Mayo. If the first-year head coach had simply said he would decide at kickoff who would start at running back — or simply not announced Gibson would start — we wouldn’t be having this conversation. By saying one thing and doing another, Mayo makes himself and his coaching staff look dysfunctional.
And by not providing any details after the game, he opens the door to all kinds of speculation about why Stevenson started instead of Gibson — an otherwise minor development that had no impact on the Patriots’ lopsided 40-7 loss.
“It’s just an unforced error,” Patriots Insider Tom E. Curran said of Mayo’s decision Patriots postgame live. “If you’re not going to start (Stevenson), or if you’re going to start him, the game doesn’t depend on that conversation. Everyone understands that the guy is going to play football on this day. He’s one of your better players.” players. So when someone says, “Who’s starting?” Say, “I haven’t decided yet. We will decide when we go there.”
“You don’t have to make it a one-sided accident, he did that by giving an answer that he cannot adhere 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 racked up 63 yards on 12 attempts.
