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Patriots vs. Jets preview: Pats run defense must improve in Week 8 originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
FOXBORO — As the Patriots prepared for their first practice since being described as “soft” by head coach Jerod Mayo, “salty” might have been the best adjective to describe the air around the team’s offensive linemen.
Donning full pads for an early-down-focused practice, that was their first opportunity to prove to their coach that they’re ready and able to play the brand of football demanded of them.
“It should light a fire up under your ass,” guard Michael Jordan said. “For me personally, you can’t allow anyone to hold you to a higher standard than yourself. When Coach said it, it meant something. But I hold myself to a higher standard so I’m already upset. I’m already upset.”
The question now is whether or not Mayo’s message landed with his team as they prepare to take on a Jets team doing some soul-searching of their own at the moment.
Do players take one of football’s most offensive four-letter words and use it as fuel? Do they take that challenge head-on? Or do they go in the opposite direction?
“You don’t take it too personally,” tackle Demontrey Jacobs said. “You look at it, ‘How can I change that narrative from Coach’s point of view?’ Like he said, we’re playing soft is what he said. We just gotta reiterate what we gotta do to play harder, play smarter together for longer.”
“I don’t resent it at all,” Jordan said. “I happily accept it. You need that type of stuff. You need it. You need total honesty to be able to see where you need to go.”
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Hunter Henry resides just a few stalls down from a cluster of linemen in the Patriots locker room. He, too, insisted that the players involved will rise to the occasion.
“It’s got to challenge you,” he said. “It’s a physical game. You never want that to be your identity… I think the team will react…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/patriots-vs-jets-preview-pats-221928285.html
Author : NBC Sports Boston
Publish date : 2024-10-25 22:19:28
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