Jerod Mayo still needs to figure out who he is as a head coach | Karen Guregian

FOXBOROUGH- Jerod Mayo He wants to create a culture. The Patriots want to create an identity for their football team.

That’s exactly what a first-year head coach should do, especially a A person chasing a legend.

Mayo was starting to make its mark, but made a few missteps along the way. He readily admits that this is the case. He also promises to make the leap to Year 2 as coach.

With six games left in Year 1, starting with Sunday’s game against Miami, there’s still time to get started, especially rookie quarterback Drake Maye It’s already exciting the masses.

But judging by how Mayo handles in-game decisions on his own, it seems as if he’s still trying to figure out what he wants to be as a head coach and what his football philosophy will be.

Because the situation is a bit complicated right now.

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The Rams failed to reach a fourth-and-goal from two teams trailing by 11 points in the third quarter of Sunday’s 28-22 loss. This led a group of second guessers, including the incumbent, to criticize him for being too cautious.

With a losing team and a rookie quarterback growing and improving by the minute, there was no need to take any chances.

Didn’t Maye do it? Are you going to pull a miracle by pulling a rabbit out of your hat by scoring a fourth-and-goal from the four before time expired in Tennessee a few weeks ago?

This was another opportunity to see what Maye could do when pushed. In a nothing-to-lose scenario, there was another chance to support Maye and the offense. Only Mayo opted for a field goal.

On the other hand, Mayo and defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington gambled and took the group third down against the Super Bowl-winning quarterback in the same game. On one hand, the Patriots need to pick their spots on offense, as there is little to no pass rush, not to mention the pass rush. But this wasn’t Matthew Stafford’s first rodeo.

That turned into an easy throw and catch between Stafford and Cooper Kupp for a touchdown on their first possession in the third quarter.

So what is Mayo?

A coach trying to win by going the conservative route? Or is he someone who tries to gain victory by pushing the limits with aggressive moves?

The answer is most likely, he’s still trying to figure this out as he goes.

“Knowing his personality, I think he will always do what is best for the situation.” veteran cornerback Jonathan Jones He said Wednesday. “I don’t think he’s always going to try to be aggressive or he’s always going to be conservative. “I think he’ll try to calculate the direction of the team, the momentum, a variety of different things, and formulate his decision on whether to do it or not.”

It’s certainly possible for Mayo to be more aggressive on the defensive side of the ball because that’s his wheelhouse. Meanwhile, the offense is not yet in his hands. He’s still learning this side, which will probably lead him to be more cautious.

Earlier in the week, Mayo said he makes these decisions on a case-by-case basis. As Jones said, it takes into account how the play is going and how the flow of the game is.

“Right now I always feel like I made the right decision. It’s easy to look back and say, ‘I wish I had done X, Y and Z,’ and that means more than one situation,” Mayo said Monday. “You can go back to the London game and then (Sunday) some of the same situations came up. If you execute, we’re not going to have that conversation. But as I sit here today, look, this is 100% mine and I’ve got to get better.”

He says he doesn’t regret the decisions he made, but he tries to learn from them.

Maybe he’ll discover that consistency is as important to him week in and week out as it is to his players.

As a result, he needs to pick a lane and do this his Lane.

When asked Wednesday about the inevitable trial and error of being a rookie coach and whether that element has learned over time, he said. Mayo said he still had “a lot more” to learn. This has not changed in the 11 games of the season.

“I gave a speech, who was I talking to? I was talking to someone and they have a good relationship with (Chiefs coach) Andy Reid. “He asked him what he did in the offseason,” Mayo began. “This is after being a veteran coach, after all these Super Bowls and watching thousands of plays of just red zone offense and defense. In my opinion, you have to keep growing. You cannot remain stagnant in this world.”

At this stage it is still trying to fix the glitches.