"Jerod Mayo came out in support of Bill Belichick yesterday regarding the coach's controversial decision to go for it on fourth-and-2 against the Colts rather than punt.

The Patriots linebacker and defensive captain said he didn't think Belichick was sending a message to the defense that the coach didn't have faith in it to stop Peyton Manning & Co.

"We looked at it as a challenge. People say it was a lack of confidence in us. But we looked at it as a challenge," Mayo said. "We looked at it as coach having enough confidence in us to have a short field. Unfortunately, we were unable to step up to the challenge and get the job done. Hopefully, we can get it done this week."

Former Pats linebacker Tedy Bruschi, now an ESPN football analyst, said his blood would have been boiling for weeks if he was still playing, and that the defense would be upset over Belichick's decision.

Was Mayo's blood boiling when Belichick kept the offense on the field?

"To be honest, I have the ultimate respect for Tedy and everything he's done for this organization. But he's not in this locker room at this point in time," Mayo said. "He doesn't know the feelings that this defense or that this team has. We still have our confidence. We still have our swagger. We're going to go out Sunday and show the media, I guess.""