Bill Belichick had a big issue with Jerod Mayo in Patriots Week 2 loss

Once it was clear that Bill Belichick would become a member of the media during the 2024 NFL season after not landing a new head coaching gig, there was a lot of speculation about how he would discuss the Patriots when covering the season on his various new platforms.

Because things between Belichick and the Patriots, mainly Robert Kraft, didn't appear to end kindly despite their instance it did, the belief was that the legendary head coach might not have the kindest of things to say about his former team.

For the most part, he has not said much about the Patriots thus far besides agreeing with his former player and new colleague Chris Long about Keion White's Week 1 performance against the Bengals during an episode of "Inside The NFL." He didn't praise the Patriots for their win against the consistent AFC contender but did credit one of his final draft picks for an impressive showing to start the season.

Since then, the Patriots lost a close game to the Seahawks last weekend, which was disappointing for several reasons, mainly because it was avoidable.

Belichick spoke about that game during Eli and Peyton Manning's "ManningCast" earlier this week, and what he had to say wasn't so positive toward Jerod Mayo and the new Patriots coaching staff.

Bill Belichick's silence on the Patriots didn't last very long

With the Monday Night Football matchup between the Falcons and Eagles being the focus of this past week's ManningCast, Belichick spoke to the Manning brothers about how Atlanta was able to come back and win a game that seemed all but lost.

He emphasized their decision to utilize the time they had before halftime to try to score, taking advantage of the opportunities given to them. This prompted him to take a shot at the Patriots for their "questionable" decisions leading to Sunday's loss.

“We saw several games this weekend where that was really a factor, certainly the New England-Seattle game where Seattle scored right before the half, ultimately took it into overtime. That was a big three points they picked up there with some, let’s say, questionable clock management.”

That's certainly not how the Patriots would like their former head coach to talk about them so early in the season, if at all.

But Belichick does make a point. One of the issues many took with how the Patriots handled the Week 2 game was their lack of urgency or risk-taking, like not going for it on a fourth-and-one play or trying to score before halftime knowing the Seahawks got the ball to start the third quarter.

It can likely be chalked up to the Patriots' new coaching staff's inexperience and will (hopefully) not remain an issue the rest of the season.

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