Coming out of their 35-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the New England Patriots know they need all the help they can get. Well, maybe some of the old Bill Belichick magic can do the trick.
While the Patriots’ longtime head coach will not be walking through the door, Patriots captain Kevin Byard cited one of his legendary sayings after Sunday’s loss in Jacksonville.
“As Bill Belichick used to always say, just do your job, and I think we’ll be fine,” said Byard during his postgame press conference.
“For me, just being a leader and just being one of 11, I have to make sure that I’m playing at my highest level. Whatever I need to do to go out there, trying to go make a play to spark this team, that’s what I need to do and that’s what I’m focused on throughout this week. And I think that’s what everybody will be focused on, bringing the right attitude, bringing the right energy every single day, and just being one of 11 doing our job.”
While the offense and quarterback Drake Maye in particular are the story of the game for the Patriots, the team’s defense also was not able to play to its typical standard. The 35 points given up are tied for the worst ever under head coach Mike Vrabel — a distinction shared with a loss to Buffalo last December — while the unit allowed Jacksonville to score five touchdowns on five red zone trips.
For Byard, that second part was especially problematic coming out of the game. It is also why he pointed to the defense before placing any blame on Maye and company.
“We’re not pointing the finger at one side of the ball or anything like that. We have to go out there no matter where they put the ball down,” he said. “As a defense, we have to go out there and line up, and we didn’t get a stop at all. They had the ball in the red zone five times and they scored five times. That is inexcusable on our part.”
Byard, who referred to the loss as an “old-fashioned ass-whopping,” has come out on the wrong end of multiple disappointing games through his 11-year career in the NFL. Naturally, he knows what it takes for a quick turnaround.
And considering what comes next for the Patriots — a trip to Buffalo to play the Bills — such a quick turnaround is paramount.
“We have to come together. We understand what’s ahead of us,” he said. “We’ll have to hear all the noise or whatever it may be, but I think the main thing for us as a team is that we will have to ignore all that noise and get back to work. That’s the only way we can improve.”
