The jabs being thrown between Jerod Mayo and Bill Belichick are unsettling for one Patriots alum.
During an appearance Tuesday on “Pro Football Talk Live,” former Patriots safety Devin McCourty spoke about the very public fallout of Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars in London, with current New England coach Jerod Mayo calling the team “soft” as his predecessor, Bill Belichick, disagreed with the assessment.
“I hate to see the way that when Mayo speaks, it kind of gets turned into, ‘Well he’s kind of taking a shot at Bill.’ Bill speaks, he’s kind of taking a shot at Mayo. These two, we used to call Jerod ‘Jerod Belichick.’ We used to say he was Bill’s long-lost son because of how he was and how similar he was to Bill as a player, so I hate to see the way this has all unfolded that they’re not kind of close and Jerod can’t call up Bill as a former colleague, as a coach, and then as your former head coach,” said McCourty, who played for the Patriots from 2010-22.
“I hate that part of this, so hopefully they work this out and we stop seeing these kind of subtle shots back and forth in the media.”
A former Patriots linebacker, Mayo — who played alongside McCourty for six seasons — transitioned to coaching following his retirement and served as the inside linebackers coach in New England from 2019-23.
Mayo was named Belichick’s replacement in January after the franchise parted ways with the eight-time Super Bowl winner, who led the team to six championships in 24 seasons at the helm.
Despite opening the season with an upset win over the Bengals in Cincinnati, the Patriots have dropped six straight, including a 32-16 defeat to Jacksonville overseas in Week 7.
“Disappointing game. We came out. We 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’s being able to run the ball. That’s being able to stop the run. And that’s being able to cover kicks. And we did none of those today,” Mayo said postgame Sunday.
Mayo clarified the remarks on Monday, stating on “The Greg Hill Show” that the team is “playing soft” and equated toughness to running the ball, stopping the run and covering kicks, according to Audacy.
He also touched upon the 2023 squad, which was coached by Belichick, and said, “Last year were played soft at times.”
Belichick, who is embracing his sports media opportunities this season, said Monday on “The Pat McAfee Show” that he was “kinda hurt for those guys” over Mayo’s comments.
“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.”
Rookie quarterback Drake Maye, who made his second career start in Sunday’s loss, backed the first-year coach, noting the team has to step it up.
“Coach Mayo is not going to come in here and say something he hasn’t said to us in the locker room,” said Maye, the third overall pick in this year’s NFL draft. “We’re not tough, he always preaches being tough. He preached it today. Being tough, we’re not running the football, stopping the run and covering kicks, is what he said. I think he does a great job of relaying the message to us and the guys know. Jon Jones gave a speech after the game saying, ‘You got to find it. We’ve got to find something.’ What we’re doing is not good enough. Got to man up.”
The Patriots, once again in the basement of the AFC East, will have an opportunity to turn things around Sunday when they host the reeling Jets (2-5) in Foxborough.