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Bill Belichick focused on UNC, not worried about Patriots after his replacement got fired after 1 season

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Bill Belichick focused on UNC, not worried about Patriots after his replacement got fired after 1 season

Bill Belichick knows his former pupil and New England Patriots successor Jerod Mayo was fired after just one season. 

But what’s happening with the team he won six Super Bowls with is the least of his worries at the moment. 

During his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Belichick, who was in suit and tie on a recruiting trip for his new gig as the North Carolina Tar Heels head football coach, said the Patriots never gave him a ring as they decided to fire Mayo after going 4-13 this year.

New North Carolina head football coach Bill Belichick speaks to the crowd at Dean Smith Center during halftime of an NCAA college basketball game between La Salle and North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024.  (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)

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“The Patriots’ situation, honestly, I don’t have too much of a comment on that,” Belichick told McAfee and his crew. “Robert Kraft, Jonathan Kraft, Robyn Glaser, they’re the decision makers there.

“Mayo was hand-picked by Robert, but in the end, the decision-making is something they’d have to comment on.

“I really don’t know from the outside looking in. They haven’t called me and asked, so I don’t know.”

PATRIOTS OWNER ROBERT KRAFT SHOULDERS BLAME AFTER FIRING JEROD MAYO: ‘WHOLE SITUATION IS ON ME’

Of course, McAfee had to ask Belichick after his replacement being one-and-done in Foxborough, but a new journey for the legendary coach is well under way as he continues to try and build his first roster at Chapel Hill. 

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As Belichick mentioned, Kraft hand-picked Mayo, who was already on Belichick’s staff, as the Patriots’ next head coach this past offseason. It came after the team and Belichick mutually parted ways following a 4-13 season, ending a 24-year relationship that brought about arguably football’s best head coach of all-time. 

Robert Kraft speaks during the Historic Roots of Black and Jewish Solidarity at 92NY on March 07, 2024 in New York City. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)

Mayo played for the Patriots from 2008-15, winning a Super Bowl with the franchise during the 2014 campaign. Belichick eventually brought him onto his coaching staff in 2019 as a linebackers coach before Kraft made his choice last year. 

But Kraft shouldered the blame on Monday when addressing reporters about Mayo, saying that the “whole situation is on me” in regard to his decision to let Mayo go after only one season. 

“I feel terrible for Jerod, because I put him in an untenable situation,” Kraft added. “I know that he has all the tools as a head coach to be successful in this league. He just needed more time before taking the job.

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“In the end, I’m a fan of this team first, and now I have to go out and find a coach who can get us back to the playoffs and hopefully championships.”

North Carolina Tar Heels new head coach Bill Belichick speaks to the media at Loudermilk Center for Excellence. (Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images)

While the Patriots embark on yet another head coach search, in which another Belichick former player in Mike Vrabel is expected to be top of mind as Mayo’s replacement, the 72-year-old coach’s inaugural season with the Tar Heels has a large spotlight on it, given this will be Belichick’s first-ever college gig in his illustrious career.

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Taylor Swift shows up to support Travis Kelce for possible final home game

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Taylor Swift shows up to support Travis Kelce for possible final home game

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Taylor Swift showed up to Arrowhead Stadium Thursday night to watch fiancé Travis Kelce in what could be his final home game with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Swift, wearing a red leather jacket, was shown on the Amazon Prime Video broadcast hugging a friend. 

The pop star has mostly been out of the NFL spotlight after the Chiefs lost the Super Bowl to the Philadelphia Eagles in February and the two announced their engagement.

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Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift kiss after the AFC championship game against the Buffalo Bills in Kansas City, Mo., Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)

But it was a special night for Kelce as he mulls his NFL future.

Amazon Prime Video aired an interview between him and Chiefs legend Tony Gonzalez before the game began.

“I think I’m still searching for those answers. I think, obviously, the way this one ended with a sour taste in my mouth, I feel motivated, but I got to make the right decision for me,” he told Gonzalez. “I’ve got to hope that, you know, if I do want to come back, the Chiefs are willing to bring me back.

2025 NFL WEEK 17 BUZZ: PACKERS’ JOSH JACOBS CLEARED; RAVENS QB JACKSON DOUBTFUL

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Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is introduced before a game against the Denver Broncos Thursday, Dec. 25, 2025, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

“So it’s a two-way street on that, but, at the same time, man, I am, at this point in this year, I’m just trying to finish out and give Chiefs Kingdom everything I got and go out there and do it with some of that flair that you said I play with.”

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was asked what it meant that it could be Kelce’s last game at home.

“I don’t know if it is or not. I haven’t talked to him,” Reid said. “I think his numbers and personality and the person, I think, speak for themselves. Phenomenal person (and) great for the community. He’s everything you want from a player representing an organization.”

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The Chiefs were taking on the Denver Broncos in the Week 17 matchup. Kansas City has already been eliminated from playoff contention.

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Lakers’ Austin Reaves will not return vs. Rockets because of calf soreness

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Lakers’ Austin Reaves will not return vs. Rockets because of calf soreness

Lakers guard Austin Reaves will not play in the second half against the Houston Rockets because of left calf soreness, the team announced Thursday.

Reaves missed three games with a left calf strain before coming back to play at Phoenix on Tuesday night. He scored 17 points off the bench in the Lakers’ loss to the Suns.

Against the Rockets at Crypto.com Arena, Reaves started and played 15 minutes in the first half, scoring 12 points on five-for-eight shooting.

With Reaves out, the Lakers struggled in the third quarter, giving up 29 points to trail 92-74 heading into the fourth. The Lakers are trying to avoid losing three consecutive games for the first time this season.

Reaves entered Thursday averaging 27.3 points per game, ranking him 11th in league scoring.

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Lakers coach JJ Redick said earlier this week that Reaves wasn’t on a minutes restriction, but the team would monitor his workload “in real time.”

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NFL’s Christmas games lose major star power as key quarterbacks sidelined with injuries

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NFL’s Christmas games lose major star power as key quarterbacks sidelined with injuries

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On paper, Netflix had great divisional matchups on Christmas Day for Week 17 when the season began.

Of course, the NFL season never goes as planned, and the three matchups scheduled for the holiday are not what anyone had planned.

The reason? Star quarterbacks won’t be playing in each game.

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Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott walks off the field after the team’s NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)

Christmas Day’s first kickoff will be an NFC East battle between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders, with both teams already eliminated from playoff contention.

And while Dak Prescott and company are looking to finish the season strong, the Commanders shut down Jayden Daniels, their second-year quarterback who led them to the NFC Championship Game in his rookie season just a year ago, after reaggravating his elbow injury.

In fact, the Commanders won’t even see Marcus Mariota, Daniels’ backup who has had to start eight games this season, as he’s dealing with an injury as well. It will be veteran Josh Johnson making the start in Landover, Maryland, on Christmas Day for a 4-11 Commanders squad that hoped to at least make the playoffs after a fantastic finish in 2024.

CHIEFS ANNOUNCE RELOCATION TO KANSAS BY THE 2031 NFL SEASON WITH NEW DOME STADIUM

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“When you do circle those matchups, that’s exactly what you’re thinking: This is going to be cool. How it’s all laid out — division games right here at the end between two games of Philadelphia with a Dallas game in between,” Commanders head coach Dan Quinn said.

“Playing these division games, they still mean a lot.”

Unfortunately for both squads, it will only be for bragging rights.

Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders looks on from the sidelines after leaving the game during the second half against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on Dec. 7, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Ellen Schmidt/Getty Images)

In the 4:30 p.m. ET slate, the Detroit Lions and Minnesota Vikings, a storied NFC North rivalry, the home team in Minneapolis will be without its own second-year signal caller — J.J. McCarthy.

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McCarthy suffered an injury in the win over the New York Giants last week, and it will be Max Brosmer having to start again for Kevin O’Connell’s group.

The Minnesota product’s first career start didn’t work out too well in Seattle, as the Seahawks had their way on defense against Brosmer. Perhaps a home crowd will do him and the Vikings’ offense better, but the Lions at least still have something to play for.

Detroit heads into this game following a tough loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, where a game-winning touchdown was called back after Amon-Ra St. Brown was penalized for offensive pass interference, negating Jared Goff flying into the end zone after a pitch-back from the star receiver.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes chews his mouth guard during warmups before an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann, File)

The Lions need to win their remaining two games, while also needing the Green Bay Packers to lose their last two games to secure the final NFC wild card spot.

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Finally, and perhaps the biggest disappointment for Netflix, is the Kansas City Chiefs not having Patrick Mahomes on the field this holiday season.

Mahomes suffered a torn ACL, which he quickly had surgery to repair, following a loss that knocked them out of playoff contention two weeks ago. The Chiefs were hoping that his backup, Gardner Minshew, could finish out the season, but he tore his ACL last week in a loss to the Tennessee Titans.

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That leaves USF alum Chris Oladokun, who filled in for Minshew last week, starting against Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos — a 12-3 squad who already clinched their playoff berth. Denver will still be playing hard, as they’re competing for the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC, which would ensure home games throughout the playoffs.

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These games were supposed to be potential division/playoff clinching matchups, but the NFL and its fanbase will be hoping these games are not as lopsided as some believe they could turn out to be.

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