FOXBORO — Ex-Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had largely seemed to avoid discussing his former team through the first quarter of the season until this week.

Belichick spoke out about current Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo calling his team “soft” after their 32-16 loss to the Jaguars on Sunday. Mayo walked back the comments on WEEI on Monday morning, clarifying that the Patriots are “playing soft.”

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“Defensively, the Patriots led the league last year in rushing defense. Yards per carry: No. 1 in the league. And this year they’re way down in the 20s somewhere,” Belichick said Monday on “The Pat McAfee Show.” “It’s the same guys. They re-signed (Anfernee) Jennings, they re-signed (Jahlani) Tavai, they re-signed (Kyle) Dugger. Marcus Jones and (Christian) Gonzalez have been healthy all year. You got (Deatrich) Wise, you got (Davon) Godchaux, you got Keion White, you got (Marte) Mapu. It’s a lot the same players.

“The Patriots led the league in rushing defense last year and they still have a lot of those players..

I’m hurt for those guys because they’re not soft..

I feel bad for the defensive players because they’re all tough players” ~ Bill Belichick #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/wVN9ufcNMg

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 21, 2024

“… 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 it even though we couldn’t score many points offensively. I feel bad for the defensive players on that one because those guys, that’s a tough group. … Those guys are all tough players. They’ll strap it up and go.”

Belichick did fail to mention that the Patriots are playing without defensive tackle Christian Bamore (non-football illness list, blood clots), linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley (injured reserve, pectoral) and safety Jabrill Peppers (commissioner’s exempt list, arrest).

“Look, like I said, my main focus is the guys inside of this building, not only the players, but also the coaches and the rest of the staff,” Mayo said Wednesday when asked about Belichick’s critique. “Look, as soon as we turn this thing around, then we’ll be okay. It comes down to wins and losses. That’s what it comes down to, and that’s what you’re ultimately judged by.”

Players Belichick mentioned by name were also asked about the comments.

Wise said he hadn’t previously heard them.

“Cool. That’s all I got,” Wise said when they were relayed to him.

Added Godchaux: “I mean, Bill’s on the podcast, I don’t think Bill meant no harm. I think people just took it the wrong way. Bill just answering the question that somebody asked him. I think people just took it the wrong way. Just like I think people took Jerod’s comment the wrong way about us being a soft football team. I know Jerod doesn’t feel that way about us. So I just think people just took it the wrong way. Bill’s just being Bill. You know, Bill wants the best for us. Jerod wants the best for us. We just got to get back to playing New England Patriot football. That’s the bottom line, no matter what nobody says. We got to get back to playing our brand of football that we haven’t been doing it the last couple weeks.”

It bears mentioning that Belichick’s critical comments come only weeks after owner Robert Kraft acknowledged on “The Breakfast Club” radio show that he “fire(d)” the former head coach when it was announced in January as a mutual parting of ways.

“I had given him so much power,” Kraft said. “He had full control over everything, and shame on me, I should have had some checks and balances better. But, he had earned that right. But then the results weren’t there and if you’re in the sports business you win or you lose, there’s no gray and I hate losing.”