Bill Belichick fires back at Patriots coach Jerod Mayo calling players 'soft': 'I'm kinda hurt'

New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo chose to be blunt about his team being in the middle of the pack in run defense this year following the team's sixth straight loss, this time to the reeling Jacksonville Jaguars in London. 

Mayo called out his run defense as "soft" after watching yet another running back have his way on the ground, with Jaguars backup Tank Bigsby, filling in for the injured Travis Etienne Jr., rushing for 118 yards on 26 carries with two touchdowns.

There were times during the early-window game that the Jaguars simply handed the ball off instead of calling up passes for Trevor Lawrence.

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Patriots legendary head coach Bill Belichick had many of the same guys on defense in his last season with New England in 2023, and they were the best run defense in the league last year. 

So, during his appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Monday, Belichick didn’t mince his words either when reacting to Mayo’s "soft" comment. 

"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."

PATRIOTS HEAD COACH JEROD MAYO CALLS TEAM ‘SOFT’ AMID SIX-GAME LOSING STREAK

Mayo would later clarify that he didn’t believe the team was soft, but he felt they played that way on Sunday, and he said as such after the game.

"We’re a soft football team across the board," Mayo said Sunday. "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."

For the Patriots’ own run game, the Jaguars held them to just 38 total yards on 15 carries, which is never a recipe for success no matter the team. 

"Last night, after the game, I felt like [we] just went out there and played soft. We’re playing soft at the moment," Mayo said on Monday. "When I said playing soft, that means stopping the run, being able to run the ball and covering kicks, which we weren’t able to do. Now, saying that, do I think we have the guys that can turn this ship around? One hundred percent. But that comes through hard work, hard work comes on the practice field and going out there and getting better each and every day."

The Patriots are clearly a rebuilding team, especially considering Belichick’s departure after a 4-13 finish last year and needing to continue bolstering the roster. 

They did so with a new quarterback at No. 3 overall, as the Patriots took Drake Maye out of UNC. Maye has started the past two weeks after Jacoby Brissett began the year as starter. 

But, since shocking the Cincinnati Bengals on the road in Week 1, the Patriots have been searching for another win each week.  

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