“Big win for the Patriots at home against the Jets. And [the] Jets are now in a tough spot.”
After spending the last week ripping into Jerod Mayo and his “soft” comments toward the Patriots roster, Bill Belichick had more to say about Mayo, the Patriots, and New England’s upset win over the Jets during his weekly appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show.”
Here are a few highlights from Belichick’s latest media appearance: A brief tip of the cap to Patriots …
The past week was an eventful one in Foxborough, especially after Mayo publicly labeled his team “soft” following a loss to the Jaguars in London. Even though New England’s rookie head coach backtracked the following day, the damage was done once his initial blunt comments landed in the media cycle.
And sure enough, Belichick spent most of the last week calling out Mayo on his several media obligations, be it “The Pat McAfee Show”, the “Let’s Go!” podcast, or his “Coach” podcast series with Underdog Fantasy.
But amid all of the flak Mayo received over the last week, his players responded in their next game on Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
Despite being matched up against a more talented Jets team (and with Drake Maye out for a majority of the game due to a concussion), New England managed to come away with a dramatic 25-22 win, scoring the go-ahead touchdown with just 22 seconds left on the clock.
After New England’s upset win, several players credited Mayo’s comments for lighting a fire under a roster previously mired in a six-game losing streak.
“When somebody calls you out as a man, you can’t get all sensitive about it,” Keion White said. “You just have to say ‘OK, I’m going to show you’ and take it as a challenge and I think we did that. That’s just a testament to his coaching and how we are receptive to him as a coach because we didn’t get defensive and we didn’t shut down. We took it as a challenge.”
Speaking on Monday, Belichick gave credit to the Patriots for coming away with a win — at least to some extent. While he did commend the Patriots for delivering on Sunday against New York, most of his commentary on the game focused on the Jets’ shortcomings.
