On Thursday, Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt met with the media for the first time since his team’s 30-17 loss on the road in Arizona - a loss that came with an extra helping of drama created by internet lip readers and head coach Jerod Mayo’s postgame press conference.
“Did you consider running Drake [Maye] in that situation - that it’s a short yardage situation, you feel like he can run?” Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston asked Mayo during Sunday’s presser, referencing the consecutive stops on 3rd and 1 and 4th and 1 by Arizona from the Cardinals 4 yard line at the top of the fourth quarter.
“Uh, that’s - you said it, I didn’t,” Mayo responded flatly, quickly moving on to the next question.
Mayo has since walked this answer back, and told The Greg Hill Show he talked about it with Van Pelt the next morning at the team’s facility, saying the two were on the same page moving forward.
Van Pelt echoed those sentiments during his nine-minute press conference before practice on Thursday.
“I didn’t see [the comments], I had no idea,” said Van Pelt. “And then I just - I was watching tape early in the morning, and he came in and said what he had said. And, I mean, I have Jerod’s back at all costs. I mean, we have a great relationship. We’re very communicative, and I took no offense to that whatsoever. I think it was taken out of context, as he said, and we have a great relationship.”
In addition to the noise around Mayo’s press conference gaffe is the noise around what CBS cameras were able to catch from the Kraft’s suite on Sunday - a visibly frustrated Robert and Jonathan, clearly complaining about the team’s play calling while taking notes.
When asked if he had any play calling regrets from Sunday’s loss, Van Pelt addressed the elephant in the room.
“Yeah, I mean, there’s a - I know Jonathan was upset, and that came out,” said Van Pelt. “There was nobody more pissed off than I was, I can promise you that.
“No bad play call works. Like, if that play works and we block it up - we had it up, we had the right numbers for the right people, and it didn’t work. You know, obviously hindsight, it’s easy to look back and say, ‘I wish I’d have done something different.’ That’s always part of the play caller’s deal after a game.
“Would I call that play again in that situation? Probably. We need half a yard. We called a similar play at the goal line in the Jets game to win it. That’s an attitude play. That’s a move-guys-off-the-ball, two lead blockers for a good running back. So, unfortunately it didn’t work out, and that was a big swing in that game. We had a chance there to go down and get back within six points. Thought we moved the ball up and down the field for the most part of the day. It was a strange game in that regard, but it’s tough. If it works, it’s a non-issue. When it doesn’t work, then you always kind of second guess yourself on that call. But, again - schematically, we had the right call on, we just didn’t get the job done.”
Van Pelt went on to say that he only knew about Kraft’s displeasure with his play calling from the clips that were surfacing online once they were brought to his attention on Monday afternoon, and that he hasn’t had a conversation with either Robert or Jonathan about his play calling from Sunday.
With that being said, Van Pelt said that he and the Krafts regularly talk about his offense, albeit in an informal capacity when passing each other in the hallways around Gillette Stadium.
Andrew Callahan of The Boston Herald asked, “Jerod debriefs with them, as he shared - do you ever have conversations with ownership about games or decisions you’ve made?”
“Yeah,” said Van Pelt. “Throughout the course of walking through the hallways. Nothing that’s scheduled each week. But if they have a question, I’m always open to answer the questions.”
Later in the press conference, Nicole Yang from The Boston Globe followed up on this topic, asking, “You mentioned you haven’t talked to Robert yet. When you see a clip like that, does that compel you to want to explain to him? Like, do you want to talk to him to explain your decision making?”
“You know, my door’s always open,” said Van Pelt. “Obviously, you know, the Krafts - I answer to those guys. So if they ever want to come down and talk, my door’s open. I’ve had great conversations with Robert over the course of the season, Mr. Kraft, and it’s been positive. So yeah, always willing and always available.”
While the play calling in question almost certainly wouldn’t have flipped the game in the Patriots’ favor, it was undoubtedly a nail-in-the-coffin moment in the game for a team that looked bad from the jump coming out of their Week 14 bye week.
Van Pelt said on Thursday that if the team was in a different spot record-wise, he may have approached that situation differently.
Evan Lazar of Patriots.com asked, “You mentioned keeping Drake healthy for these last few games and out of harm’s way. And with the designed quarterback runs and things like that - let’s say the record was a little bit different, you know, would you say that that would invite calling those a little bit more?”
“Absolutely,” said Van Pelt. “Absolutely, yeah - there’s no question. If it’s 3rd and 2 and we’re trying to get to a playoff spot, then we’re gonna use every means necessary to get to those plays, put our guys in the best position.
“But again - I’ve been around the quarterback run game in Cleveland, and we lost our quarterback for the year. So I know what it entails, I know what comes with that. There is a big risk that’s involved. And again, if it’s a playoff situation, or it’s a gotta-have-it-to-win-the-game, possibly. But when that comes up, we’ll make that determination.”
The Patriots are currently 14.5-point underdogs at FanDuel for their road game in Week 16 against the Buffalo Bills (11-3), and are sitting at +700 on the moneyline.
If the Patriots are in a gotta-have-it-to-win-the-game situation on Sunday in Orchard Park, it would be a massive surprise.
Since the beginning of the 2020 season, New England is 2-7 against their AFC East rivals, and have watched their longtime divisional doormats become the five-time defending divisional champions.
According to Tankathon, the Patriots are currently slated to pick 3rd overall in next spring’s draft with a 3-11 record.