Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo didn't pull any punches.
"It was just forcing the play," Mayo said Friday. "We had other guys open on that play. It was just a poor play. It was a terrible play, and we can’t have those, especially when you have guaranteed points on the board."
Who was the subject of that honest (yet brutal) assessment? What play could be so bad as to produce that quote? Why was it necessary for Mayo to be so blunt?
It's best if you just look at it yourself.
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Patriots starting quarterback (for now) Jacoby Brissett threw a ball directly to Eagles defensive back Avonte Maddox, who was blanketing Austin Hooper in the end zone, in the first quarter of Thursday's loss at Gillette Stadium.
"It turns from an 'All right, we got a field goal, and we're pretty much secure,' to now it being a seven-point (swing) by turning the ball over," Mayo said. "It was just a poor play overall. I think if you asked Jacoby, he would say the same thing."
Brissett chose to view it as a learning experience.
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"It gives you a chance to be like, 'This is what I was thinking here.' It opens the room for communication," Brissett said following the game, per MassLive. "Even when Hoop came back to the sideline and me and him were talking, I was just like, we haven't been in that situation before. It's gonna be good to learn from a lot of this stuff."
New England will keep the competition open between Brissett and Drake Maye, and while the former still holds the advantage, throws like that won't help his case.
Featured image via Brian Fluharty/USA TODAY Sports Images
