Patriots' Mayo among 4 rookie head coaches learning on the fly

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Almost immediately after describing his team's play as "soft" following its sixth straight loss Oct. 20, New England Patriots first-year coach Jerod Mayo learned a lesson about the impact of a head coach's words.

Former Patriots coach Bill Belichick was one of many former coaches and players who pushed back on Mayo using that adjective.

"I'm kind of hurt for those guys," Belichick said on "The Pat McAfee Show." "They're not soft."

But after beating the New York Jets on Sunday, several Patriots players said they didn't take Mayo's description as a personal insult, but rather, they it as a challenge.

Illustration by ESPNPerhaps it was part of a learning…