Jerod Mayo on Bill Belichick's critique of his "soft football team" comment: "Everyone has a solution"

FOXBORO -- New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo is taking the high road in response to comments made by Bill Belichick regarding his coaching style last week.

Mayo is enjoying a bit of a victory lap on Monday after New England's 25-22 comeback win over the New York Jets on Sunday. The victory came one week after Mayo called the Patriots "a soft football team" following a blowout loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.

Belichick disagreed with that assessment and defended many of his former players on the Patriots. Mayo had sidestepped questions about his former boss's comments, but briefly touched on the subject Monday morning in his radio interview on WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show."

Mayo responds to Belichick's criticism

After Mayo called his team soft last week, Belichick pushed back during his Monday appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show."

"I'm kind of hurt for those guys. To call them soft, they're not soft," said Belichick. "They were the best team in the league last year against the run. 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."

During his chat with WEEI on Monday, Mayo was asked if he was surprised that Belichick was so quick to knock him down, given his relationship with Belichick as a player and coach on his staff.

"Look, I learned a lot from coach," Mayo said Monday. "I learned a lot on the field, off the field, all those things. In saying that, I have to do what I believe in. And that's what it comes down to."

Essentially, Mayo is saying "It is what it is" when it comes to Belichick being critical of his approach with the team. And Belichick is far from the only person to criticize Mayo after the team's 1-6 start to the season.

"Everyone has solutions. It's not just in the building, it's outside -- I can't even go to the grocery store without, 'Well, maybe you should change the time of practice.' My mom calls me with solutions," joked Mayo. "People in the building, like everyone has a solution."

Mayo says Patriots "answered the challenge" against Jets

Mayo tried to clarify a few times that he meant the team "played soft" and didn't mean the team was soft overall when he made those comments last Sunday. But they ended up lighting a fire under the players, and they responded in a big way in Sunday's comeback win.

"The guys went out there and played well. I tried to walk it back last week as far as calling them soft. We played soft the last two games, and that's what I meant, and I would say those guys answered the challenge," Mayo said Monday. "I don't think we have soft guys in our locker room, that was just the way we had played the last two weeks. I thought they came out and played well yesterday."

The Patriots will look to make it two straight wins next Sunday when they visit the 1-6 Tennessee Titans.

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