Jacksonville Jaguars photo

A quick recap of the last four days for the 1-6 Patriots: Tough loss to Jacksonville in London, after which head coach Jerod Mayo said, “We’re a soft team across the board,” followed by multiple critical comments and social-media posts from Mayo’s former coach Bill Belichick and some of New England’s younger players. Mayo responded at his press conference with a tip of his cap to Belichick.

“The message for those guys, it’s all about the Jets and we’re moving forward,” Mayo said, referring to Sunday’s home game (1 p.m. ET, CBS) against the Jets (2-5). “Obviously, there’s a lot of noise out there. And I said, we are what our record is. We have to get better. That, ultimately, is my responsibility. And look, I take all the blame. It’s fine. It’s moving onto the Jets.”

Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner said on the Rich Eisen Show this week that whether Mayo’s should have publicly called out his team with “soft” comments is irrelevant if game film proves them to be true.

“I’m a firm believer that, as a player, you have to be realistic about where you’re at,” Warner said. “If a coach is asked a question and he comes out and says, ‘We’re soft; we can’t stop the run and we’re not winning physical battles up front,’ we can get mad all we want at the coach or we can look at the tape and go, ‘You know what, he’s right.’”

Warner compared the situation to the quarterback change in Pittsburgh, saying Mike Tomlin saw something on film with Justin Fields that led the coach to avoid settling for simply being good – something Fields acknowledged after watching film last week.

“It comes down to reality,” Warner added, “and being able to go, as a man, watch the film and accept the results of the tape.

“Now, if you don’t think that’s the case, and he’s calling you soft or saying you didn’t play well in the media, that can be a whole different thing. But, to me, you’ve always got to be honest with yourself as a player and I’m never going to get mad at someone for giving an honest assessment of my play if I believe they are accurate.”

What’s accurate is New England has an excellent opportunity to halt a six-game losing streak this week. It’s the longest stretch of losses for the Patriots since 1993.

But rookie Drake Maye has completely changed the countenance of the New England offense since Mayo made him the starting quarterback two weeks ago. Although Maye is 0-2, he’s thrown five touchdown passes over his two starts. Only Jordan Love (seven), Baker Mayfield (seven) and Lamar Jackson (six) have thrown more since Week 6. And in New England’s five games with Jacoby Brissett as the starter, the Patriots managed only two.


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By Zak Gilbert

Since his freshman year at the University of Colorado, Zak has worked 30 years in sports, including 18 NFL seasons. He's spent time with four NFL teams, serving as head of communications for both the Raiders and Browns. A veteran of nine Super Bowls, he most recently worked six seasons in the NFL's New York league office.

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