Bill Belichick, Mike Lombardi continue to torch the Patriots in latest media appearance
“When you ride bicycles in the locker room, I don’t know how you can pretend you’re not soft."
Bill Belichick will seemingly not rest until he fires a salvo at the Patriots from every single one of his multiple media obligations.
The former Patriots head coach continued to take his former team and current head coach Jerod Mayo to task on Thursday during the latest episode of his “Coach” video series with Underdog Fantasy.
“It’s Jets week, but boy, the Patriots got a lot of questions to answer between the head coach, the atmosphere, who’s soft and who’s not soft and so forth,” Belichick said in his conversation with former Patriots executive Michael Lombardi and longtime New England assistant coach/coordinator Matt Patricia, adding: “The Patriots can’t even get the same five guys on the field [on the offensive line].
“That’s been an issue whether [Mike] Onwenu is playing guard or tackle. Two guys they signed in the offseason aren’t even on the team anymore. So it’s been a little bit of a musical chairs.”
While Belichick called out the lack of continuity on New England’s offensive line, Lombardi opted to twist the knife about the current culture in Foxborough.
Lombardi’s harsh comment is likely in reference to a video of Onwenu riding a bike through New England’s locker room back in May.
While Mayo preached a more relaxed, player-friendly approach in New England prior to the 2024 season, that sentiment might be changing.
Not only are the Patriots in the midst of a six-game losing streak, but several off-the-field distractions — be it players airing their frustrations on social media, Jerod Mayo’s labeling of his team as “soft” on Sunday, and a team-wide meeting to address the “elephant in the room” — have compounded the Patriots’ issues.
And as New England continues to spiral, Belichick has gone on the offensive — peppering the Patriots and Mayo with verbal barbs throughout the week, especially in regards to Mayo’s “soft” comments.
“Defensively, the Patriots led the league in rushing defense last year in yards per carry,” Belichick said on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday. “No. 1 in the league and this year, they’re way down in the 20s somewhere. It’s the same guys. …
“I’m kind of 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. Those guys went out there and did it even though we couldn’t score many points offensively, so I don’t know — I feel bad for the defensive players on that one because that’s a tough group.”
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