CHARLOTTE -- One day after beating the Carolina Panthers on the field, the New England Patriots hurled retaliatory jabs in the Panthers' direction Monday to defend star wide receiver Randy Moss.
Carolina defensive backs Chris Gamble and Chris Harris made comments questioning Moss' effort after the receiver's uninspired performance in New England's 20-10 win Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
Moss fumbled after his lone reception of the game, dropped a pass and had a ball thrown to him intercepted by Gamble.
Gamble said afterward that Moss "gives up a lot" and "kind of laid down" in the game. Harris was quoted by the Boston Globe as saying he didn't want to say Moss quits, but that "he kind of doesn't run the routes the way they're supposed to be run. If you get a jam on him, he'll ease up. ... If he can't get it going, he gets out of sync."
Those comments were consistent with the evaluation of some national media analysts who questioned Moss' effort, but they weren't appreciated by the Patriots' most high profile leaders, coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.
"My response would be that's a lot of conversation coming from a team that just lost another game," Belichick said of the Panthers (5-8).
Belichick took disciplinary action against Moss last week, sending him and three other players home after they were late for an early-morning meeting on a day when snow caused traffic snarls in the area.
"I have a lot of respect for Randy," Belichick said Monday. "I think he's one of our best players and I think if you watch other teams defend him and watch other teams play against him, they think the same way - other than these two guys from Carolina after they lost another game. I guess they don't think that way. They haven't won a lot of games, now."
Gamble wasn't available Monday when reporters had access to the Carolina locker room and Harris had little to say about Belichick's remarks.
Initially, Harris declined comment, but later was asked if he was upset by what Belichick said.
"Who cares?" Harris said. "That's how I feel."
Brady weighed in on the issue during a morning interview on Boston radio station WEEI.
Brady called Moss one of his all-time favorite teammates and took blame for the interception of the pass thrown in Moss' direction.
Brady also was directly critical of Gamble.
"Everybody takes liberty to say whatever they want to say in a situation like [Sunday]," Brady said. "I've seen plenty of plays made on Chris Gamble, too, over the course of the season.
"When guys play Randy, they want to show everyone what they can do. I guess [Panthers' defensive backs] came out of the game pretty confident. Randy is one of the best players in the history of the NFL. When it doesn't go perfect out there, everyone wants to jump on Randy."
Carolina coach John Fox wouldn't weigh in on what he thought about Moss' performance.
"That's not my job to evaluate him," Fox said. "They won."
