Patriots’ Jerod Mayo Explains Odd Personnel Choice Vs. Bears

The Patriots wanted to feature their youth on Sunday, which meant at least two of their wide receivers would have to accept reduced roles against the Chicago Bears.

Tyquan Thornton and K.J. Osborn were the obvious candidates, right?

Nope.

Thornton was scratched entirely from the lineup, but on an afternoon when six wide receivers dressed, Kendrick Bourne was the only one to ride the pine. Osborn, on the other hand, played a reduced role behind the likes of Ja’Lynn Polk, Kayshon Boutte and DeMario Douglas.

Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo explained that choice following the game, which happened to end in a dominant victory.

“There was a lot that went into that,” Mayo said, per team-provided video. “Any time we put together an active roster together — we thought that was the best thing to do for us to have the best chance to win. All those guys bring a certain skill set to the game, we just didn’t know who was going to play more. It just played out that way.”

Bourne responded well to the benching, which Mayo said he appreciated.

“I’ll say this, even though Bourne didn’t play today he was the first one smiling when I came into the locker room,” Mayo said. “I’ve always appreciated that — just his energy and his excitement.

“It’s the same thing with K.J. and the rest of those guys; when they’re inactive, it’s the excitement for their teammates. We talk about ‘abundance versus scarcity’ and having the mindset of abundance where we can all eat. If you have that scarcity mindset, you don’t want your teammate to do well because there’s only a certain amount of the pie. I’ll say the mindset of this team is that if we go out there, there are enough plays for all of us.”

Osborn’s role perhaps could have been tied to reports that he soon could be released, with Sunday serving as one final showcase for other teams who might be interested in his services.

We’ll see about that, however.