Felger & Mazz: Jerod Mayo sold us on fake QB competition
On Thursday’s Felger & Mazz program, the guys reacted to Jerod Mayo butchering the decision to name Jacoby Brissett as the starting quarterback.
Jerod Mayo Butchered QB1 Decision
Parts of conversation abbreviated for clarity.
Jim Murray: What I have a problem with is how disingenuous this whole thing has been for the better part of a month. Ownership and management had treated their employees and customers as though we were complete idiots. They simply should have made this announcement 3 weeks ago.
They should have said Jacoby Brissett was going to be the starter in Week 1 with the caveat that all the players will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis. Instead, we get this disingenuous talk about competition. For what? The whole thing was just a charade, and it’s annoying.
Mazz: What a sham. That’s what this thing is. It was a complete sham from the very beginning. What a freaking joke. What a lie this was from the start, and I think Mayo makes himself look bad.
Murray: He makes himself look weak.
Mazz: More than anything that is my takeaway from the whole thing. Jerod Mayo looked horrible through this whole process. The whole thing made Mayo look bad.
We all knew it was going to end up here from the very beginning. Back in the spring, Mayo told us, “Jacoby Brissett is my starter right now, he’s the most pro-ready. He’s the most prepared quarterback to run a team.”
He said all that, and we all knew it. All the reports about Drake Maye were that he was going to take a while to develop. Nobody realistically expected this kid to be the quarterback in Week 1. The fact that it turned into this kind of stupidity is on the Patriots and Mayo.
Matt McCarthy: I don’t necessarily know how much this is on Jerrod Mayo, but I’m not trying to defend him either. He did come across as wishy-washy. He has come across as he doesn’t have complete control of the situation, so he only has himself to blame for that.
We do have to consider though that this was a business decision by the Patriots to try to sell us a quarterback competition. If anybody was paying attention, you knew there was no competition.
Is that entirely on Jerod Mayo or is that the result of pressure from his bosses? Maybe the Krafts knew they needed to sell fans on the future and/or the next big thing. Management was trying to resell to the fans the brand of the Patriots.
Is that entirely on Mayo? I mean, he ended up being the bad messenger. I get it. So I’m not trying to defend him, but I wonder if the message kind of had to come from above him on this.
Segment Audio
Ryan Beaton is a producer for 985thesportshub.com. You can follow Ryan at @ry_beaton on Twitter.
Listen to Felger and Mazz from 2-6 every Monday-Friday on 98.5 The Sports Hub, with hosts Mike Felger, Tony “Mazz” Massarotti, and Jim Murray “Big Jim”. You can listen live in the Sports Hub App and subscribe to their podcasts here. Follow @FelgerAndMazz on Twitter to keep up with the show!
Celtics make another addition to their roster
Apr 7, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Lonnie Walker IV (8) dribbles against Sacramento Kings guard Davion Mitchell (15) during the second half at Barclays Center. (Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports)
Walker only adds more depth to what’s an already loaded backcourt between Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, and Jaylen Brown, and gives the Celtics another notable scoring threat off the bench. And it might be just plain lethal now when you consider the lift the C’s were already getting from bench scoring threats such as Sam Hauser.
What’s interesting to note about Walker’s contract is that it’s apparently an Exhibit 10 contract, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, meaning that it’s not exactly a guarantee that Walker makes Boston’s roster.
A first-round pick in 2018, Walker has averaged 9.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game over a 322-game NBA career that’s included runs in San Antonio and with the Lakers before his one-year stint in Brooklyn.
