In the wake of a resounding loss Sunday to the Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots Coach Jerod Mayo called his team “soft.”

That didn’t sit well with former Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who used an appearance Monday on “The Pat McAfee Show” to stick up for New England players, at least those on the defensive side of the ball.

“I’m kind of hurt for those guys,” said Belichick. “Because to call them soft – they’re not soft.”

Mayo, a Patriots assistant for five years who was promoted to head coach when Belichick parted ways with the team in January, made his comments at a postgame news conference in London. Facing a Jaguars team that was 1-5 at the time, Mayo watched his team get trampled to the tune of 171 rushing yards in a 32-16 Jacksonville win.

For its part, New England managed just 38 rushing yards and allowed a 96-yard touchdown on a punt return, falling to 1-6.

Calling it a “disappointing game,” Mayo told reporters, “We’re a soft football team across the board.”

“We talk about what makes a tough football team: That’s being able to run the ball, that’s being able to stop the run, and that’s being able to cover kicks,” added the 38-year-old coach, a former Patriots linebacker. “We did none of those today.”

Some corroboration for Mayo’s analysis came from Jaguars running back Tank Bigsby, who gashed New England for 118 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

“On film,” Bigsby said of the Patriots after gaining 79 of his rushing yards in the second half, “it shows, like, fourth quarter comes, third quarter comes, those guys start arm-tackling.”

At one point, in a stretch that spanned from the third to the fourth quarter, Jacksonville ran the ball on 17 straight plays.

Belichick, a former defensive coordinator who coached the Patriots to enormous success over 24 years, noted that last year – when he was still the team’s coach – New England ranked first in yards per carry allowed.

“This year, they’re way down in the 20s somewhere,” the 72-year-old said. “It’s the same guys. They were the best team in the league last year against the run. Those guys went out there and did 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.”

Belichick also pointed out that New England had brought back many of the defensive players he coached last year to success against the run, including safety Kyle Dugger and linebackers Anfernee Jennings and Jahlani Tavai. Among 2023 Patriots players, Tavai and Jennings graded out at second and third, respectively, in run defense by Pro Football Focus, with Dugger ranked sixth.

The top-ranked New England run defense player last year, according to PFF, was safety Jabrill Peppers. He has missed the Patriots’ past two games after being placed on paid administrative leave following his arrest this month on charges primarily related to an alleged incident of domestic violence.

Belichick did not mention Peppers in his “McAfee” appearance, nor did the ex-coach note that New England has been without two defensive stalwarts for almost all of this season. Defensive tackle Christian Barmore was placed on a reserve list in July after being diagnosed with blood clots, and linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley suffered a season-ending pectoral injury in Week 2.

Mayo, who was handpicked by Patriots owner Robert Kraft several years ago as Belichick’s eventual successor, was expected to bring a more player-friendly approach than had been the norm under the previous regime.

“I think we’ve got someone very special who understands how to manage young people today,” Kraft said at Mayo’s introductory news conference in January. “The world is different than 20 years ago, even 10 years ago. In all our businesses, we try to create a culture that people want to stay with and be there long term, and I think that Jerod has the makeup and chemistry.”

Earlier Monday, Mayo used an appearance on Boston station WEEI to “correct,” as he put it, his remarks about his team being soft.

“We’re playing soft, OK?” the coach said. “Because if you look at … going back to training camp, there was definitely some toughness all around the place. We still have the same players, and we’ve just got to play that way.”