Coach’s Call-Out Not Only Thing Bill Belichick Disliked In Patriots’ Latest Loss

Former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick not only took issue with his successor’s comments about New England being a “soft football team.” The six-time Super Bowl champion also harshly criticized the punt team after the ugly loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in London.

One play, in particular, bothered Belichick — the lack of punt coverage on a 96-yard return touchdown by Jacksonville’s Parker Washington.

“I don’t understand why punters just want to punt the ball straight down the middle against good returners,” Belichick said on “The Pat McAfee Show” Monday. “It’s hard when you lay it right down the middle. Right down the middle of the field, and you have to cover all 53-and-a-third yards and you out-kick the coverage. That’s what’s going to happen.”

Belichick continued: “… I get it (Bryce) Baringer might lead the league in average; he might, it will be close, he’s right up there. He’s got an 80-yarder, a 70-something-yarder, but they’re so hard to cover. And if you’re going to go right down the middle, then put some hang time on the ball. Get it up there. But those four-second, 69-yarders, they’re hard to cover.”

The long-time coach recalled when former Patriots punter Todd Sauerbrun sent the football right down the middle to Adam “Pacman” Jones, who ran it back 81 yards for a touchdown.

“You got to cover the kick wherever it goes and whatever the hang time is,” Belichick said. “I’m not taking any special teams coverage unit off the hook, even on bad kicks, because they’re going to happen.

“But the more of them you lay down the middle, the more you’re asking for trouble, the harder it is. That’s hard. It’s hard to cover the whole field when you got the two gunners as the only guys that can lead, and you got everybody else bottled up in there. It’s just hard.”