Devin McCourty hates to see a rift between Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo

Current Patriots coach Jerod Mayo and former Patriots coach Bill Belichick have exchanged some subtle or otherwise intended comments lately. Former Patriots defensive lineman Devin McCourty, who knows both of them well, finds their public dispute unfortunate.

“I hate to see Mayo say things like that when he speaks. . . becomes, “Well, he's kind of trying to go after Bill.” Bill's talking, he's trying to target Mayo. These two – we used to call Jerod “Jerod Belichick.” We always said he was like Bill's long-lost son because he was like that and was similar to Bill as a player, so I hate to see how this all turned out, that they aren't close in some way and Jerod can call it Don't consider Bill as a former colleague, as a coach and then as your former head coach. I hate that part of it, so let’s hope they sort that out and we don’t see these kinds of subtle shots in the media anymore.”

McCourty also got laughs over Belichick's claim on Monday Pat McAfee Show that he felt sorry for players Mayo described as “soft”.

“I've never heard Bill say he feels sorry for any player or hurt, so I thought that was kind of funny,” McCourty said, “but it's interesting because they don't have Ja'Whaun Bentley either, they have him.” I don't have Christian Barmore, and I think one of the things that always stands out to me is that Coach Belichick always tells us, “Don't tell me what you did last year.” Every team is different. Every season is different.'”

Is there a connection between last year and this year?

“Yeah, they had a very good run defense last year, their defensive performance, and I agree with him. Individual members of this team, when you talk about Jon Jones, Davon Godchaux and Anfernee Jennings, those guys are not soft, but what I learned from being under Bill Belichick is that tough football teams run the ball and stop it.”

It might just be a matter of semantics.

“You might not want to use the word 'soft,'” McCourty said. “Right now they’re not a tough football team. They don't run the ball very well. They don't stop the run. So for me, yeah, I think even Mayo kind of walked back those comments. I think he was emotional after the game and said the team was soft and I said it on Sunday night Football night in America. I think whenever you make a comment like that or say that your team isn't playing at that level, Mayo knows it's his fault and I'm sure this team will attack the Jets on Sunday and especially better defensively will play because you were challenged by your head coach And one of the things I heard when I went back there and spoke to players is that Mayo is telling us exactly how it is. Everything he said in the meeting means he came and he already told us as a team and they said he was very open with what he told the team.”

Ultimately, that is the test. What happens on Sunday when the desperate Jets come to town with a record of 2-5? Will the Patriots get tougher or will they give Mayo or others reason to say they are soft?