Bill Belichick doubles down on criticism of Jerod Mayo, calls for Patriots HC to introspect after 1-6 start
Former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick doubled down on his criticism of Jerod Mayo. Belichick took aim at Mayo for the Patriots 1-6 start. Following the Patriots' 32-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London on Sunday, Mayo called out his team. The first-year coach claimed his team was soft.
"Look, disappointing game," Mayo said, via NFL.com. "We came out, started fast. What I would say is, look, we're a soft football team across the board. You talk about what makes a tough football team. That is being able to run the ball, that is being able to stop the run, being able to cover kicks. We did none of those today."
Following Mayo's comments, Belichick took aim at him for his comments. Now, just days later, Belichick once again took aim at Mayo and said calling out a team publicly never works.
“When you criticize your team publicly like that, it doesn’t always go over well. Every coach has their own style. Maybe sometimes that can be effective. Ultimately when the team played bad, that was my responsibility," Bill Belichick said.
"We might have had bad playing but we had bad coaching that led to bad playing. I think it’s always best to take a look at yourself and do what you can do to help the team. If you have constructive criticism as a coach, that’s your job," Belichick added.
It was harsh criticism from the former Patriots coach, who isn't pleased with how his former team is doing, or how Mayo called them out in the media.
Bill Belichick 'hurt' Jerod Mayo called the Patriots soft
Although the Patriots are off to a 1-6 start, New England has many of the same players as last season.
Bill Belichick pointed to all the players he coached last season who are still there and said they are far from soft.
"It's a lot of the same players, and in some cases I would say more," Belichick said, via NFL.com. "I'm kind of hurt for those guys. To call them soft, they're not soft. They were the best team in the league last year against the run. 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. … Those guys are all tough players, they'll strap it up and go."
The Patriots will return to the field at home against the New York Jets on Sunday.