Bill Belichick fires back at Patriots coach Jerod Mayo calling players 'soft': 'I'm kinda hurt'

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New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo chose to be blunt about his team being in the middle of the pack in run defense this year following the team's sixth straight loss, this time to the reeling Jacksonville Jaguars in London. 

Mayo called out his run defense as "soft" after watching yet another running back have his way on the ground, with Jaguars backup Tank Bigsby, filling in for the injured Travis Etienne Jr., rushing for 118 yards on 26 carries with two touchdowns.

There were times during the early-window game that the Jaguars simply handed the ball off instead of calling up passes for Trevor Lawrence.

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New England Patriots coach Jerod Mayo in the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars during an NFL International Series game at Wembley Stadium.  (Peter van den Berg-Imagn Images)

Patriots legendary head coach Bill Belichick had many of the same guys on defense in his last season with New England in 2023, and they were the best run defense in the league last year. 

So, during his appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Monday, Belichick didn’t mince his words either when reacting to Mayo’s "soft" comment. 

"I’m kinda hurt for those guys because to call them soft — they’re not soft. 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."

PATRIOTS HEAD COACH JEROD MAYO CALLS TEAM ‘SOFT’ AMID SIX-GAME LOSING STREAK

Mayo would later clarify that he didn’t believe the team was soft,