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Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer
LONDON — New England Patriots coach Jerod Mayo didn’t mince words to describe his team’s sixth straight defeat — a 32-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium on Sunday.
“We’re a soft football team across the board,” Mayo said. “We talk about what makes a tough football team and that’s being able to run the ball, being able to stop the run and that’s being able to cover kicks. We did none of those.”
The Patriots opened a 10-0 lead and then fell apart. They totaled 38 rushing yards, allowed 171 rushing yards as Jacksonville at one point ran 16 straight times, and surrendered a 96-yard punt return for a touchdown late in the second quarter.
Entering Sunday, the Patriots had won 59 consecutive games — since 2017 — when leading by 10 points or more, according to ESPN Research.
Some players said after the game that Mayo’s critique wasn’t a surprise, as he told them the same in the locker room after the game.
“Coach Mayo is not going to come in here and say something to you guys that he didn’t say to us in the locker room,” said rookie quarterback Drake Maye, who was one of the team’s bright spots after finishing 26 of 37 for 276 yards and two touchdowns. “He’s always preaching being tough. I think he does a great relaying the message to us and the guys know.”
Maye relayed that nine-year veteran cornerback Jonathan Jones also shared a message with players in the locker room, saying they all needed to “find something” and “man up” because “what we’re doing is not good enough.”
Veteran linebacker Jahlani Tavai agreed with Mayo’s assessment.
“He said it well and we got to look in the mirror and understand what he’s saying,” Tavai said. “If we’re OK being soft, then some people will fall off, and the rest of us who want to prove that wrong will step up and make sure this doesn’t happen.”
Added veteran tight end Hunter Henry: “That wasn’t what we want to be at all. That was not the identity we want to be.”
The Patriots (1-6), who return home to face the New York Jets next Sunday, have slipped since opening the regular season with a 16-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Mayo said he’s “not sure” what has led to the Patriots becoming a “soft” team.
“That’s something I have to think about,” Mayo said. “We have a long flight back. 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 have to get back in the guys.”
The Patriots have had seven different starting units on the offensive line — a result of injuries and ineffective play — which has perhaps contributed to some of their struggles running the ball.
Defensively, they’ve been without defensive tackle Christian Barmore (blood clots), linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley (torn pectoral muscle) and safety Jabrill Peppers (commissioner’s exempt list), but players say that isn’t an excuse for their disappointing play against the run.
And this is the second straight week that special teams let them down, after Houston successfully challenged them on six kickoff returns last week.
“We have to take that personal,” said Tavai, who plays on the punt coverage unit. “That can’t happen. That’s unacceptable.”
Mayo, in his first year after taking over for Bill Belichick, acknowledged that having a “soft team” reflects on him and his staff.
“First, it starts with me,” Mayo said. “It’s about just the mentality of going back to having a tough football team. I just have to do a better job.”