Patriots
“Big victory for the Patriots at home against the Jets. And [the] The jets now find themselves in a difficult situation.
Bill Belichick had a lot to say about the Jets on Sunday. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
After spending last week ripping Jerod Mayo and his “soft” comments about the Patriots roster, Bill Belichick had more to say about Mayo, the Patriots and New England’s upset win over the Jets during his weekly appearance on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee.” To show.”
Here are some highlights from Belichick’s latest media appearance:
A brief tip of the hat to the Patriots…
It’s been an eventful week in Foxborough, especially after Mayo publicly called his team “soft” following a loss to the Jaguars in London. Even though New England’s rookie head coach backtracked the next day, the damage was done once his first direct comments landed in the media cycle.
And of course, Belichick spent most of last week grilling Mayo on his numerous media obligations, whether it was “The Pat McAfee Show,” “Let’s Go!” podcast, or his “Coach” podcast series with Underdog Fantasy.
But amid all the criticism Mayo has received over the past week, its players responded in their next game Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
Despite facing a more talented Jets team (and with Drake Maye out for the majority of the game due to a concussion), New England managed to come away with a dramatic 25-22 victory , scoring the go-ahead touchdown with just 22 seconds left on the clock.
After New England’s upset victory, several players credited Mayo’s comments with lighting the fire under a team previously mired in a six-game losing streak.
“When someone treats you as a man, you can’t get very sensitive about it,” Keion White said. “Just say, ‘OK, I’ll show you’ and take it as a challenge and I think we did that. It’s just a testament to his coaching and how receptive we are to him as a coach because we haven’t been defensive and we haven’t shut down. We took this as a challenge.
Speaking on Monday, Belichick gave credit to the Patriots for pulling off a victory — at least to some extent. Although he praised the Patriots for their performance Sunday against New York, most of his comments on the game focused on the Jets’ shortcomings.
“It was a great Jacoby [Brissett] and the Patriots there at the end,” Belichick noted. “Obviously, [Rhamondre] Stevenson had a big game. You know, tough day for the Jets… Maye ran more than he threw. … Big victory for them. Big victory for the Patriots at home against the Jets. And [the] The jets now find themselves in a difficult situation.
Belichick fires Jets passer response
In that same answer where Belichick talked about Brissett’s attack late in the game, Belichick made sure to twist the knife against a team he has long hated in the Jets.
“Just a lot of mistakes from the Jets, and then it ended up killing them at the end, with the Jacoby scrambles. [Kayshon] Boutte made a catch there,” Belichick said. “There were several drops in the game, but just one game where you look at Jacoby – and then [Haason] Reddick came into the game and passed the quarterback multiple times, whether it was Maye or Jacoby, and created these scrambling lanes that the Patriots took advantage of.
MassLive’s Chris Mason posted video of Reddick blowing right by Brissett during New England’s game-winning drive.
Reddick responds to Belichick’s criticism of X.
“Yeah, someone call Bill Belichick and give him a job. Looks like he’s bored at home and can’t keep me out of his mouth,” Reddick wrote on social media.
Belichick then turned his attention to Jets owner Woody Johnson, who he previously called out earlier this month for his decision to fire New York head coach Robert Saleh.
“It starts at the top and like you said, Woody started pulling the levers. … It seems like Woody made a lot of moves here and I don’t really understand how they add up,” Belichick said of Johnson.
A failing grade in the Uche trade
While Belichick gave the Patriots credit for handing the Jets a loss, he thought there was a clear winner in Monday’s trade that sent pass rusher Josh Uche to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Surprise, surprise — it wasn’t New England, from Belichick’s perspective.
“I think it’s a great move for Kansas City,” Belichick said. “They didn’t give up anything for him.”
New England acquired a 2026 sixth-round pick for Uche, who should help bolster the pass-rushing abilities of a Kansas City team looking to win its third straight Super Bowl.
Belichick noted that if Uche leaves the Chiefs in free agency this coming year, Kansas City would likely receive a 2026 sixth-round pick in return — negating some of the initial value New England got in that trade.
“Okay, so a 6th round in 2026, they’re taking them this year. If they don’t re-sign him, they’ll likely get a sixth pick. So it goes away,” Belichick said. “If they re-sign him, it means they like the player and the player can help them win. So it’s an excellent profession. So, I mean, I think it’s a great trade for Kansas City.
“Looks like the Patriots probably could have gotten more for him last week, but… it looks like it didn’t work out.”
Even with a rough season in 2024 (two sacks in seven games), Uche has an 11.5 sack campaign on his resume in 2022. And of course, Belichick managed to take another light dig at the current state of the Patriots when asked how Uche has been used this year at Foxborough.
“Listen, Josh Uche is a very good rusher,” Belichick said of Uche, whom he drafted to New England in 2020. “He hasn’t had an opportunity to rush much this year for the Patriots, because they were behind a lot. And you know, the situation is not good. But he had a big year two years ago now, he had Judon on the other side of him, so they were two good passers.
“But he’ll have plenty of opportunities to rush in Kansas City.” I think it will really help him. It has surprising power for its size. He has excellent quickness and downswing, and he has some flexibility in coverage. I think he’s a good addition for a team that needs another passer, which everyone does. Josh can do this. It will definitely help her.
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