Why Jerod Mayo called an assistant on Thanksgiving after Bears’ clock management mishap

FOXBORO — On Thanksgiving, the Bears lost a mind-boggling heartbreaker at Detroit.

The game clock ran out on the final play, a third-and-26 snap that started after quarterback Caleb Williams took a sack while trailing by three with 36 seconds left. The Bears had one timeout remaining, but never called it while Williams received the play-call, got settled at the line and finally snapped the ball with six seconds on the clock. Once Williams’ deep heave fell incomplete, the game was over.

Out east, Patriots coach Jerod Mayo watched the ending unfold at his home and picked up the phone soon after the Lions won 23-20. He dialed up Patriots assistant quarterbacks coach and director of game management Evan Rothstein to discuss Chicago’s clock management.

“It was great. Great conversation,” Mayo said Friday in a morning press conference. “Oftentimes, it’s easy to second guess and look back on those decisions that are made and say, ‘Well, that’s crazy.’ For me, it’s another opportunity to be a better head football coach.”

Rothstein has a direct line to Mayo’s headsets on game day to relay advice on fourth-down decisions and clock management. Mayo indicated their conversation settled on a different decision than the one the Bears made.

“I’m not going to get into that whole world, but I probably would’ve handled it a little differently,” he said. “Again, easy for me to say sitting just right here.”

End-of-half clock management was an early problem for Mayo in home losses to Seattle and Miami. The rookie coach also ranks among the league’s most conservative coaches on fourth down. Rothstein, a holdover from Bill Belichick’s last coaching staff, held a similar role last year.

“We spend a lot of time talking about situational football and things like that,” Mayo said. “As a head coach on the field, there’s a lot going on; whether it’s people talking to you through your headset and all that stuff. I think it’s good that you have a separate channel where it’s the two of us on there really discussing and staying ahead of the game, talking about every situation and how to approach it.”