Jerod Mayo may have made biggest mistake yet as Patriots head coach

Being named the first head coach after Bill Belichick departed the Patriots was bound to be a tall task, no matter how experienced the incoming replacement was. That creates even more pressure on Jerod Mayo because of his younger age and inexperience as an NFL coach.

Despite that, as any new head coach, he's bound to make mistakes now and again, and through his short tenure so far, there's only one instance that stands out as a weaker point of his offseason. He said as much when a quote of his from the day he was introduced as the next coach came back to haunt him.

The "burn some cash" comment regarding free agency became a hot topic as the Patriots seemingly acquired free agents in the opposite way. Mayo was forced to address the matter and walk back his initial statement to clarify what he really meant by it.

Since then, not much could be painted as a mistake, which is certainly a good thing. But that changed this week during a recent interview with "Up & Adams" after practice on Monday.

Jerod Mayo revealing the Patriots offensive game plan was not a smart move

While there was plenty of insightful information shared by various players and coaches who spoke with host Kay Adams, Mayo's interview was particularly memorable because he essentially shared the team's plans for the offense in detail.

"I said this in front of our entire team yesterday. We are going to run the ball. We’re going to have plays off running the ball, but I think with our backs and our offensive line getting better every day, I think we’re going to have a chance to really go out there and control the game with the run game, and then throw the ball down the field based on that.”

Although that's not entirely unheard of for a coach to talk about how they envision utilizing their roster, and it wouldn't take a genius to guess what the Patriots were going to do, it was something that had been traditionally hush-hush in Foxboro, and for good reason.

It's great to see Mayo wanting to pave his own path as the Patriots head coach and get away from how things were for 24 years under Belichick, but some things are better left unsaid, and this is perhaps one of them.

He even doubled down on it when speaking to reporters this week, confirming the plans to feature Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson offensively and rely on their defense because they're the better roster of the team.

“We’re going to lean on our defense this year. I would also say offensively, we’re going to run the ball and try to control the game that way.”

Maybe it's not that big of a deal in the big scheme of things. But with the plan to become a competitive team again, sharing minor or major details regarding your plans for the season doesn't seem like the best thing to do at the end of July, if ever.

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