Jerod Mayo called the Patriots a ‘soft football team’ after loss to Jaguars

Mayo, who was a hard-nosed linebacker during his playing days, says he's coaching a soft football team.

Patriots coach Jerod Mayo did not hold back with his postgame criticism of the team’s performance following a 32-16 loss to the Jaguars on Sunday.

“A disappointing game,” Mayo said. “We came out and 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,” he added. “That’s being able to run the ball, that’s being able to stop the run, and that’s being able to cover kicks. We did none of those today.”

The Patriots gave up 171 or more rushing yards for the third consecutive week. Jacksonville’s Parker Washington scored on a 96-yard punt return. Quarterback Drake Maye tied for the Patriots’ lead in rushing yards with 18 on three carries.

Maye agreed with Mayo’s assessment of the team.

“Coach Mayo is not going to come in here and say something to us that he hasn’t said in the locker room,” Maye said. “I think we’re not tough. He always preaches being tough. He preached it today … I think he does a great job of relaying the message to us and guys know.”

“Jon Jones gave a speech after the game saying you’ve got to find it, you know, you’ve got to find something and know that what we’re doing is not good enough. We’ve got to man up.”

Safety Kyle Dugger, a recently-appointed team captain, said he appreciated Mayo’s straightforwardness.

“He kept it real with us, and I’m glad he did,” Dugger said.

Adversity reveals character, tight-end Hunter Henry said after the team’s sixth straight loss. He believes that the team has high-character players who will get things turned around. He also admitted that “soft” is not the identity that the Patriots are going for.

“That wasn’t what we wanted to be at all,” Henry said. “That wasn’t the identity we want to be. We weren’t able to get the run game going like we want, and so we’ve got to be better running the football, controlling the clock, moving the ball, and obviously scoring more points.”

Linebacker Jahlani Tavai said the loss came down to players not doing their jobs. The Patriots have a lot to reflect on as they fly home from England.

“He said it well. We’ve got to look in the mirror and understand what he’s saying,” Tavai said. “If we’re OK with being soft then some people will fall off and the rest of us who want to prove him wrong will step up to make sure that this doesn’t happen.”

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.