Jerod Mayo officially announced who the Patriots' starting quarterback will be for Week 1, but the way he did it was very unnecessary.
The New England head coach teased an announcement Wednesday when he told reporters a decision was made. He immediately then said he would not tell anyone publicly until he spoke with Jacoby Brissett and Drake Maye. Well, on Thursday, the decision got leaked to insiders less than half an hour before Mayo held a brief news conference to name Brissett the starter.
Logically, Brissett being named the starter was the right call given the state of the offensive line and the lack of need to rush Maye so soon. But why did any of this need to be done?
Brissett was the signal-caller who took the most first-team reps throughout offseason camp. Mayo preached "competition," but it was clear Maye was the second man behind Brissett, who even admitted Tuesday that he felt like the starter. There were seeds of doubt throughout the preseason when Maye outperformed Brissett, which Mayo outright admitted but also claimed Maye was second behind Brissett.
What are we doing here? Why even admit that publicly when there's no tangible gain? The past two weeks highlighted Mayo's strange method of playing the media game. It feels like he is taking notes from his predecessor Bill Belichick but also is playing the other side of trying to be media-friendly by offering up intriguing quotes. But this really does him no benefit.
Mayo's logic of Maye being better in the preseason but not in practice might make sense to former players and Belichick, but that's not how fans or the media operate. The offensive line already drained any confidence supporters had in the team, and preseason projections don't exactly predict New England being a competitive team.
Whether the Patriots stink or not is fine with the fanbase, but what isn't fine is the head coach trying to cater to all parties. Everyone expected and was fine with Brissett starting, so why add any doubt with a sham news conference? People who watch the games can tell the offensive line is a mess, so why go back and forth to being defensive and critical? Are roster decisions Mayo's call or Eliot Wolf's? Does Mayo defer to Alex Van Pelt or is he the one who has final say?
This wishy-washy media game isn't doing any favors in inspiring confidence in Mayo. but there's an obvious way to shut everyone up: win.
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