Jerod Mayo made his first mistake even before the New England Patriots took their first snap against the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday.
Around 30 minutes before kickoff at Gillette Stadium, Mayo told 98.5 The Sports Hub’s pregame show that Antonio Gibson would start at running back over Rhamondre Stevenson. This wasn’t entirely unexpected, as Mayo had hinted earlier in the week that Stevenson might be benched after his seventh fumble of the season in the previous game against the Buffalo Bills.
However, when the game started, it was Stevenson, not Gibson, in the backfield for New England’s first offensive drive. Gibson was on the sidelines while Stevenson gained five yards on the Patriots’ opening play.
NFL Network analyst Ross Tucker was confused by the shift, noting that Mayo had told the broadcast team Gibson would start. So, why the change?
Mayo didn’t offer much clarity after the game.
When asked about the decision, Mayo gave a vague response in his postgame press conference: “That was just a coach’s decision,” he said, and when pressed further, he repeated, “I’ll leave it at that.”
This vague explanation did little to clear up the confusion surrounding the situation, which Mayo himself had created. If the first-year head coach had simply stated he would make a final decision at kickoff, or not mentioned Gibson as the starter at all, there wouldn’t have been any controversy. Instead, Mayo’s contradictory statements made both him and his coaching staff appear disorganized.
By refusing to elaborate, Mayo left room for speculation about why Stevenson, not Gibson, started—an otherwise minor issue that didn’t affect the Patriots’ heavy 40-7 loss.
Patriots Insider Tom E. Curran called Mayo’s handling of the situation an “unforced error,” noting that the game outcome didn’t hinge on the running back decision. “If you’re not going to start Stevenson, or if you are, the game doesn’t hinge on that conversation. Everybody understands the guy is going to play,” Curran said. “Just say, ‘I haven’t decided yet, we’ll decide when we get out there.’ You don’t need to make it a mess, but that’s what Mayo did by giving an answer he couldn’t stick to.”
Stevenson finished with just one yard on two carries—his only other carry after his 5-yard gain was a 4-yard loss—while Gibson rushed for 63 yards on 12 carries.
