Devin McCourty Just Wants Jerod Mayo And Bill Belichick To Be Friends Again
There's been some public squabbling between current New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo and former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. And Devin McCourty is asking the age old question: Can't we all just get along?
"I hate to see the way that when Mayo speaks, it kind of… gets turned into, ‘Well he’s kind of taking a shot at Bill.’ Bill speaks, he’s kind of taking a shot at Mayo," McCourty told Pro Football Talk. "These two — we used to call Jerod, ‘Jerod Belichick.’ We used to say he was like Bill’s long-lost son because of how he was and how similar he was to Bill as a player, so I hate to see the way this has all unfolded that they’re not kind of close and Jerod can’t call up Bill as a former colleague, as a coach, and then as your former head coach. I hate that part of this, so hopefully they work this out, and we stop seeing these kind of subtle shots back and forth in the media."
Devin McCourty, who played for Bill Belichick for 13 seasons, hates to see Jerod Mayo and the former coach not getting along.
(Getty Images)
Following New England's 32-16 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London on Sunday, the team's sixth straight loss, head coach Jerod Mayo called the Pats a "soft football team across the board." Mayo's assessment came after New England rushed for just 38 yards, allowed over 170 yards on the ground, and gave up a 96-yard punt return on special teams in the ugly loss to the Jags.
Belichick, though, took issue with that phrasing — saying on Monday's episode of The Pat McAfee Show that he felt bad for players who were called out by Mayo as "soft."
WATCH: Bill Belichick Pushes Back Against Jerod Mayo's Claim That Patriots Players Are 'Soft'
McCourty was amused by that exchange.
"I’ve never heard Bill say he felt bad or felt hurt for any player, so that kind of was funny to me," McCourty said. "But it is interesting because they also don’t have Ja’Whaun Bentley, they don’t have Christian Barmore, and I think one of the things that always sticks out to me is Coach Belichick always telling us, ‘Don’t tell me about what you did last year. Each team’s different. Each season’s different.’"
And boy, is this season different. With the Pats now sitting at 1-6 with very little hope for improvement, the dynasty days of Bill Belichick seem like ancient history.