Jerod Mayo Made Bizarre But Fitting Mistake In Captains Announcement

Jerod Mayo’s verbal flub while revealing the Patriots’ starting quarterback last week raised questions about the operation in New England.

The first-year head coach had another slip of the tongue less than a week later while making a similarly significant announcement. And this gaffe might have been as — if not more — damning.

Before taking questions from reporters Monday, Mayo revealed the Patriots’ team captains for the 2024 season.

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(David) Andrews, (Ja’Whaun) Bentley, (Jabrill) Peppers, Joe Cardona, and Deatrich Wise (Jr.),” Mayo told the media, per a team-provided transcript. “Those are our captains for this year. Look, they embody everything that we preach about each and every day, not only on the football field, but also off the football field. I’m very excited to have these guys, and I know they’re excited as well to lead this football team.”

Mayo’s initial listing did not include Jacoby Brissett, who will open the campaign atop New England’s signal-caller depth chart. A reporter naturally inquired about Brissett’s omission, which made Mayo realize his mistake.

“Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry. And Brissett, sorry,” Mayo told reporters. “Good catch, good catch. So, just hit delete on those texts and those tweets. Thank you, I appreciate you bringing that up. That was going to be a fire, but hey, thank you, thank you. I definitely do appreciate that.”

Sorry, Jerod. We can’t hit delete on this post. The gaffe was very strange, but it might have been rather fitting as well.

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For starters, if Mayo was going to accidentally leave someone out of the initial announcement, Brissett seemingly would have been the least likely candidate. After all, the first-year coach has been talking about the veteran QB since March when the team signed him in free agency. Such chatter recently reached new heights when Brissett claimed the starting job over promising rookie Drake Maye, even though Mayo himself acknowledged the 22-year-old outplayed the ninth-year pro in the preseason.

But that’s what made Mayo’s error rather poetic. Brissett was brought in to bridge the gap to Maye and try to help keep the ship afloat this season. The 31-year-old does not have a long-term future in Foxboro, Mass., and there seemingly is a chance he might not even make it to the middle of the season before Maye takes over.

Many Patriots fans probably aren’t even thinking about Brissett’s prospects for the upcoming season, but rather focusing on what Maye might be able to bring to the table when his number is called. Mayo himself might be eager to make that change, and while Monday’s flub didn’t necessarily confirm as much, it didn’t inspire any optimism for the QB depth chart’s current alignment.