Following this weekend’s loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo called his team “soft” for the way they played against the run. And former head coach Bill Belichick is not happy about that characterization.
After the game on Sunday, Jerod Mayo claimed that the New England Patriots were “a soft football team across the board” after the way that they played against the Jaguars.
“We’re a soft football team across the board,” Mayo said Sunday according to Fox News.
“We talk about what makes a tough football team. That’s being able to run the ball, being able to stop the run, and that’s being able to stop kicks, and we did none of those today.”
Belichick did not seem to be a fan of that comment.
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show this week, Belichick did not hold back his true thoughts on these comments from Mayo.
“I’m kinda hurt for those guys because to call them soft — they’re not soft. They were the best team in the league last year against the run,” Belichick said.
“Those guys went out there and did it even though we couldn’t score many points offensively. I feel bad for the defensive players on that one because that’s a tough group.”
Belichick obviously has a strong personal relationship with Mayo with Mayo playing his entire career under Belichick in New England, and then serving on his coaching staff from 2019 until last season.
When the Patriots decided to move on from Belichick following the 2023 season, Mayo was their pick to replace him.
[Fox News]
