Jerod Mayo opened quite the can of worms Sunday night in Arizona.
After the New England Patriots' 30-17 loss to the Cardinals, Mayo faced a series of questions about his offense getting stuffed on back-to-back running plays on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 at Arizona's 4-yard line. Our Phil Perry asked the Patriots head coach if the team considered calling a designed run for Maye in that scenario given the rookie quarterback's athletic ability, to which Mayo responded, "You said it, I didn't."
It was an eye-opening answer that sure seemed like Mayo shifting blame to offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt for not utilizing Maye's legs in that scenario. And while Mayo walked back his comments Monday, his willingness to hang his OC out to dry was a bad look that caused some -- including The MMQB's Albert Breer -- to wonder if Mayo's job will be under further scrutiny this offseason.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Perry had another interpretation of how Sunday played out, however.
"I think (Mayo) is going to be back for next year. I still feel pretty strongly about that," Perry said Monday on Arbella Early Edition, as seen in the video player above. "What I would say, though, is don't mistake the assumption that Mayo will be back as an assumption that they will be 'running it back.' Because I think (Sunday) made it feel to me like Alex Van Pelt is not safe.
"Twenty-four hours ago, I think we all would have said (Van Pelt) is probably performing the best of the top three coaches on the sideline. And yet after these comments from Jerod Mayo, and after the video that we saw of Robert and Jonathan Kraft in their booth watching the game and commenting on the play-calling apparently, it makes me feel like this is setting up for the team to move on from Alex Van Pelt after the season. I never would have said that a day ago."
You could argue parting with Van Pelt would be a mistake. The veteran assistant has played a crucial role in developing Maye into a starting-caliber QB faster than expected, and there's only so much Van Pelt can do with arguably the NFL's worst offensive line and a receiving group devoid of top-end talent.
MORE PATRIOTS COVERAGE
To Perry's point, though, if Robert and Jonathan Kraft are hesitant to fire Mayo after one season, Van Pelt seems like a prime suspect to be the "fall guy" after taking heat from both his head coach and ownership Sunday. In fact, Perry could see both Van Pelt and defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington losing their jobs if the 23rd-ranked defense doesn't improve.
"I think it could be both coordinators, because the defense has underperformed as well," Perry added. "So you're looking at basically a cleaning of the house outside of the guy at the very top, and you're hoping that he does grow into that role (as head coach).
"But then you're also acknowledging that he's going to have to make it work a little bit better with whoever comes after those two, and I'm not sure who would come after those two in those coordinator spots."
With only the AFC East-leading Buffalo Bills and 8-6 Los Angeles Chargers on their remaining schedule, the 3-11 Patriots easily could finish 3-14. And if they aren't competitive in those games, change very well could be coming to the coaching staff.
Check out Perry's full discussion with Tom E. Curran, Trenni Casey and Tom Giles on Early Edition below.