Patriots

“‘Why, Jerod? Why isn’t this team tough?’”

Jerod Mayo’s decision to call the Patriots a “soft football team” after Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars quickly backfired.

The Patriots head coach backtracked on his postgame comments Monday morning, but that didn’t stop many former Patriots – including some of Mayo’s former teammates – from criticizing his choice of words following New England’s 32-16 loss to the Jaguars in to ask question.

Speaking on NBC’s “Football Night in America” ​​Sunday night, former Patriots safety Devin McCourty took issue with Mayo’s comments about the state of a 1-6 Patriots squad.

“Toughness is not a skill,” McCourty noted, transcribed by Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston. “You don’t have to be fast or do anything special to be tough. The second part of this is, “Why, Jerod?” Why isn’t this team tough?

“When you hear that a team isn’t tough but soft, you think, ‘What’s the head coach doing?’ How does he get them ready to go?’ Mayo and his staff have a lot of questions to answer over the next week.”

McCourty was far from the only former Foxborough player to question Mayo. Bill Belichick fired a salvo of his own on Monday during his weekly appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show.”

“Defensively, the Patriots led the league in rushing defense last year. Yards per carry: No. 1 in the league. And this year they’re somewhere way down in the 20s,” Belichick said. “They are the same people. … These guys are kind of hurting me. Because to call them soft, they are not soft.

“They were the best team in the league against the run last year. These guys went out there and did it even though we couldn’t score many points offensively. I feel bad for the defensive players because these guys are a tough group.”

While Belichick likely has a bone to pick with both Mayo and the Patriots following his January firing, McCourty’s comments are more surprising given his close ties to Mayo as a former teammate. McCourty admitted back in May that Mayo had even tried to recruit him to his New England coaching staff for the 2024 season.

Still, McCourty’s criticism of Mayo’s comments has some merit. Despite New England’s lack of skill across the board, the Patriots have regressed significantly in several areas since going 4-13 last year.

The Patriots have now lost six straight games and have given up at least 170 rushing yards three straight games. According to Boston Sports Info, the Patriots haven’t gained that many yards on the ground in three straight games since 1993.

Speaking on WEEI Monday morning, Mayo dismissed any concerns that his comments could cause resentment in the locker room.

“I don’t think it creates any division in the room at all,” Mayo said. “I think just like I use the media to send messages sometimes, I think some of the players do the same. I’m not going to tell them, “Say this, say that.”

“No, if you feel like that, if you feel like you’re the best player in the league, then go out and do it. If you feel like you want to challenge your brother by your side, then go out and do it. I just think they use it as a tool to get guys going.”

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Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.

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