“We're a soft football team across the board.”

No team ever wants to hear this. 

But that's what the New England Patriots players heard after the loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London. 

Jerod Mayo didn't hold back when speaking with his players, and he relayed the message to the media shortly after. 

“Talk about what makes a tough football team is being able to run the ball, being able to stop the run, it’s being able to cover kicks, and we did none of those today,” Mayo added. “They controlled the ball for most of the day.”

So how did the Patriots become soft?

“I’m not sure. That’s something that I have to think about,” Mayo said. “We have a long flight back, and I’m not sure. It’s not like all of a sudden we did something different and now we’re a soft football team. It’s the mentality that we have to get back in the guys.”

The hope is that this comment will serve as a serious wakeup call for the team. 

"Coach Mayo’s not gonna come in here and say something he hasn’t said to us in the locker room. I think we’re not tough and he always preaches being tough," Maye said. "We’ve gotta man up.”

And for Jahlani Tavai, he completely agreed with Mayo's comments. 

“He said it well. We gotta look in the mirror and we got to understand what he’s saying,” he told reporteres. “If we’re OK with being soft, then some people will fall off, and the rest of us that want to prove him wrong will step up and make sure this doesn’t happen.”

This was two 1-5 teams competing against each other, giving the Patriots the perfect opportunity to get back on track. But instead, they struggled on every side of the ball, losing their sixth straight matchup. 

The team has made some changes, with the biggest being Drake Maye taking over as the starter. And while he is showing a lot of promise, the rest of the team isn't stepping up or doing anything to help.

So let's hope this is the kick they needed to figure things out.