Bill Belichick continues to crush Patriots, Jerod Mayo in the media
FOXBORO -- Bill Belichick waited a while to discuss the New England Patriots and the team's struggles. But now the former Patriots head coach can't hold back.
While Belichick has several gigs in the media, he's mostly abstained from talking about the Patriots over the first seven weeks of the season. But he's had plenty to say this week about the 1-6 football team, especially after head coach Jerod Mayo called them "a soft football team" following last Sunday's loss to the Jaguars in London.
After backing his former players on The Pat McAfee Show earlier this week, Belichick took another deep cut at Mayo and the organization on Thursday in the newest episode of his show Coach on Underdog Fantasy.
Belichick says Patriots have a lot of questions to answer
With his buddies Mike Lombardi and Matt Patricia by his side, Belichick highlighted the mess that is going on in New England on Thursday's episode of Coach
"It's Jets week, but boy, the Patriots got a lot of questions to answer between the head coach, and the atmosphere, and who's soft and who's not soft and so forth," said Belichick. "It'll be an interesting game."
That soft football team comment really rubbed Belichick the wrong way, considering most of the players on the team were his guys in New England last season.
Mike Lombardi's bicycle comment about Patriots locker room
Even before Belichick could finish his thought, Lombardi -- a former New England executive under Belichick -- interjected about the state of the locker room.
"When you ride bicycles in the locker room, I don't know how you can pretend you're not soft. Everyone gets a bicycle ride -- that's what they're there for, right," he said, referring to a video from May that Kendrick Bourne posted to his Instagram account showing offensive lineman Mike Onwenu riding a bike through the New England locker room.
Lombardi has long been a mouthpiece for Belichick, and usually says what Belichick can't -- or won't. Patricia said the bicycle episode was likely Onwenu warming up before one of the team's spring practices, but Lombardi took issue with the scene.
"I'm just saying what I saw. It's a kinder, gentler program," he said. "I don't think you can do that when you have such a young team and the offensive line has struggled all year."
Belichick highlights New England's issues along the offensive line
One of Belichick's staples over his 24 years in New England was having a strong line on both sides of the ball. He placed an emphasis on building the offense and the defense from the line-out, though that fell off in the later years of his tenure.
So far, the Patriots have started a different offensive line combination each week of the season.
"The Patriots can't even get the same five guys on the field," said Belichick. "That's been an issue whether Onwenu is playing guard or tackle. Two guys they signed in the offseason aren't even on the team anymore. So that's been a little bit of a musical chairs."
The New England offensive line has been an absolute mess this season due to poor play and injuries. Starting left tackle Chuks Okorafor decided to leave the team after Week 1, and the team recently released center Nick Leverett, who had taken over for the injured David Andrews.
New England has used 11 different starting linemen through the first seven weeks of the season.
At least Belichick took a shot at the Jets too
Belichick clearly has an axe to grind against the Patriots. But at least he took a few shots at the New York Jets on Thursday as he previewed the game.
"I think both teams feel like they have a chance to win this week," said Belichick. "I don't know how many more of those are coming down the line for the Patriots -- or the Jets for that matter."
While Belichick isn't fond of the Patriots at the moment, at least his hatred for the New York Jets burns just as hot.
Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Jets clash on WBZ-TV -- your flagship station of the New England Patriots. Coverage kicks off Sunday morning with Patriots GameDay at 11:30 a.m. (which you can also stream on CBSBoston.com), and switch to TV38 after the game for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!