You said it, I didn't

Oh, Jerod. When will you ever learn?

Jerod Mayo is a rookie coach. We expect mistakes from any rookie – be it a coach or player. What we expect is for rookies to learn from their mistakes and to show that they are learning on the job.

Let’s take a rookie player from this Patriots’ roster. Let’s say – Javon Baker.

Baker was drafted in the fourth round. He was upset about it. He felt he deserved to have gotten drafted higher. He was outspoken about it. He made some comments that, maybe, he wished he could take back. Maybe not.

I’m thinking about the video he posted on Instagram when he got drafted and he was with some friends and he was swearing, saying stuff to the effect that he was drafted way too late and that the teams that passed on him were going to pay.

I’m also thinking about the introductory press conference with the media in which Baker seemed very flippant about the whole thing. When he was asked what his message was to Patriots’ fans, he said for fans to come to Gillette and bring their popcorn. Don’t just bring your popcorn, but bring him your tired and your poor, because he was going to make people in wheelchairs jump to their feet. He was going to perform miracles at Gillette Stadium every Sunday. Praise Javon!!! Alleluia!!!

Baker showed glimpses of his potential on the field early on. Drake Maye seemed to favor him in preseason games and they almost connected on some really nice plays deep downfield. You could see something in Baker.

But you could also see something was missing. He got shoved out of bounds too easily on his pass routes. He’d run the wrong routes. He’d line up wrong. He’d make a couple of drops. 

The one that stands out was the best pass Drake Maye made all preseason. It was the pass that announced Maye’s arrival to New England fans. It was the pass that made fans say, “Oh, okay. I see what all the hype is about now.”

It was a beautifully thrown deep post down the middle of the field which went off of Baker’s fingertips. Baker made it look like a difficult catch by diving and stumbling afterwards, but, in reality, a true NFL veteran receiver would have made the catch, in stride, rather easily.

So it came as no surprise that Baker was inactive for the opener. He wasn’t ready.

His immaturity showed up in early September when he had an altercation with a police officer over a ticket at Logan airport. He was parked a little too long in a pick up area and the officer asked him to move or he was going to have his car towed. Baker didn’t take too kindly to that and, again, went to social media to post a video expressing his displeasure at the police officer threatening to give him a ticket for "no reason."

But, hey, rookies do that kind of stuff. Mayo said Baker was disciplined and the team handled the matter, internally. Fine. You move on and hope the player grows up and learns from it.

On the field, Baker was given a chance against the Rams in a November game as a kick returner. He returned one kick 46 yards and muffed another one before being benched. Why? What could he have done wrong on a kickoff return to get benched? Maybe he hit the wrong hole. Maybe he wasn’t patient enough. Maybe he freelanced too much. 

So now, even with the season effectively over for a while now, Mayo continues not to play Baker. Why not? Baker has all the talent in the world. He sure has the confidence that one day he will be a great receiver. He may already think he is a great receiver.

The problem is that Baker just isn’t ready or prepared to play in the NFL. Baker hasn’t been able to adjust to being a professional NFL player. Dare I say, Baker isn’t smart enough to play in the NFL.

So, having said all that, is Jerod Mayo the coaching version of Javon Baker?

Jerod Mayo showed up to his introductory press conference with a swagger. He was so confident he kept referring to his boss, Robert Kraft, as “young Thundercat.” I mean, you have to be pretty confident in your status with the boss to call him by a nickname in public.

Right away, Mayo stuck his foot in his mouth when he mentioned that the Patriots had a lot of money under the salary cap and that they were prepared to “burn cash” to sign free agents. He walked back that comment the very next day. It wouldn’t be close to the last time that happened.

When Mayo officially announced, in a brief two-minute press conference, that Jacoby Brissett was going to be the opening day starter at quarterback, the news of the decision had already broken the day before on a day off for the players. Many players claimed they first heard about the decision via the media.

When Jabrill Peppers got arrested for, allegedly, assaulting his girlfriend. Mayo’s first comments seemed dismissive of the victim's accusations. He addressed the fact that Peppers was still allowed at the facility the day after the arrest by saying, "I mean, I don't think anyone knows the facts or anything like that. I mean, it's a process."

When Jacksonville ran the ball 18 consecutive times against the Patriots in the second half in a game in late October, Mayo came out and called his team "soft." He backtracked the next day by saying that the team wasn't soft, but that they played soft that day.

When the Patriots lost to Miami at home in late November, Mayo was asked if he felt his team was prepared for the game. His response was that he could only do so much. He prepared the team, but once the players crossed the white lines to go on the field, "there was nothing he could do for them."

And the most recent example of Mayo saying the wrong things came when NBC Sports Boston's Phil Perry asked Mayo after a 30-17 loss to the Arizona Cardinals why the Patriots didn’t utilize Drake Maye’s size, athleticism, and running ability on 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 in the Arizona red zone late in the game.

Mayo’s fumbled with a response before thinking it would be a good idea to say, “You said it, I didn’t.”

Are you serious? Talk about throwing your offensive coordinator under the bus. Talk about not taking accountability.

Mayo even discussed what taking accountability means in this very same press conference. He stated that he told his team that taking accountability doesn’t just mean saying, “My bad.” It means not making the same mistakes over and over again.

Mayo has always claimed that he takes ultimate responsibility for his team and coaches. The buck stops here. Yet, his actions this season have proven otherwise.

He is a rookie head coach who has made the same mistakes over and over again. He has not shown any improvement.

He continues to say all the wrong things in the heat of the moment following games. His time management at the end of halves continues to be bad. The team looks ill-prepared going into games and even more ill-prepared to make adjustments during games. His trademark defense is giving up over forty more yards per game this season as opposed to last season even with a healthy Christian Gonzalez all year.

Unlike rookie players like Javon Baker, rookie coaches can't be benched or made inactive for games. They can only be fired.

Just like Javon Baker may one day be a very good NFL wide receiver, Jerod Mayo may one day be a very good NFL head coach.

That was the case when Robert Kraft took a chance on Pete Carroll in the late 1990's. Carroll wasn't the right fit at the time for the Patriots. Carroll would go on to hone his craft in college by creating a powerhouse at USC before returning to the NFL and winning a Super Bowl with Seattle and cementing a Hall of Fame coaching career.

Mayo, simply, was not ready to become a NFL head coach. It is imperative that Robert Kraft not waste any more time and admit his mistake just like he did almost 25 years ago with Pete Carroll.

It's nothing personal, it's just business. He said it, I didn't.