Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick criticized current New England coach Jerod Mayo during multiple media appearances after Mayo said following the club's 32-16 Week 7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars that he had a "soft" team.
On Wednesday, Mark Daniels of MassLive spoke with multiple New England players about Belichick standing up for individuals he previously coached, such as linebacker Jahlani Tavai.
"Both of them are right," Tavai said about Belichick and Mayo. "If you listen to Mayo’s whole quote, he talked about what he sees as a tough football team and it’s stopping the run, covering kicks — and we always talk about that. Understand what Bill’s talking about — none of these guys over here are soft. Everybody is coming downhill. Everybody’s doing the things — blocking hard. I understand both sides of the story."
The Patriots surrendered 171 rushing yards and also had a punt returned for a touchdown versus Jacksonville. It was suggested days after the defeat that dropped New England to 1-6 that Mayo is not "assured of a second season" as head coach, but Chris Mason of MassLive is convinced team owner Robert Kraft will stick with Belichick's replacement through at least the start of the 2025 campaign.
"I don’t think Bill means no harm," Patriots defensive tackle Davon Godchaux told MassLive. "I just think people took it the wrong way. Bill’s just answering a question that someone asked him. I think people took it the wrong way just like I think people took Jerod’s comments the wrong way about us being a soft football team. I can look Jerod in the face -- I know Jerod doesn’t feel that way about us."
Longtime Patriots center and team captain David Andrews, who is sidelined with an injury, made it known he thinks active New England players should essentially take Mayo's comment as a challenge. Meanwhile, safety Kyle Dugger implored his teammates to not put stock into what any outsiders — even a living legend he and others played under — have to say about the current state of the team.
"I don’t have any concerns toward any outside noise," Dugger added. "I’m just focused on what I can do to be better for the team, the defense and how I can help."
As of Thursday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Patriots as seven-point underdogs for this coming Sunday's home game against the 2-5 New York Jets. It remains to be seen if the events of the past several days will either bring the New England locker room together or eventually be seen as the beginning of the end of Mayo's tenure as Patriots head coach.
