First-year New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo eviscerated his own club following Sunday's 32-16 loss to Jacksonville in London, the Pats' sixth consecutive defeat.
"Look, disappointing game," Mayo said, via the team's official transcript. "We came out, 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. That is being able to run the ball, that is being able to stop the run, being able to cover kicks. We did none of those today. They controlled the ball for most of the day. Their run game averaged over four-and-a-half yards a carry. Our run game, not sure what the average was, but it wasn't good. Look, back to the drawing board. I mean, we can't sit here and pout. We just got to put a game together."
New England scored on its first two possessions and led 10-0 before things crumbled. The Jaguars scored 25 straight and 32 of the final 38 points in the game.
The Patriots ran 15 times for 38 total yards. Take out quarterback Drake Maye's three carries for 18 yards, and the output looks even worse for Mayo's club -- 12 carries for 20 yards for a 1.6-yard per carry average. Meanwhile, the Jags galloped for 171 rushing yards on 39 carries without starting running back Travis Etienne.
The lack of punch in the trenches on both sides of the ball is a glaring issue for Mayo's squad. We knew the offense would have trouble with a porous O-line, but the defensive issues in 2024 have been more depressing for the first-year coach.
Mayo was asked what exactly makes his team "soft."
"I'm not sure. I mean, that's something that I have to think about," he said. "We have a long flight back. I'm not sure. It's not like all of a sudden, we did something different, and now we're a soft football team. It's just the mentality that we got to get back in the guys."
After a night to sleep on it, Mayo doubled down Monday on his characterization of his club.
"We went out there and played soft. We're playing soft at the moment," Mayo said. "Do I think we have the guys in there that can turn the ship around? 100%. But that comes through hard work."
Soft is one of the worst words a football player can hear to describe his play. For Mayo to cast that judgment on his team seven games into his regime underscores the magnitude of the Patriots' rebuild.
Sunday's loss marked New England's first six-game losing streak since Weeks 7-14, 1993 (seven games), the year before owner Robert Kraft bought the club.
