The Patriots suffered a thorough a 34-10 drubbing from the Tennessee Titans last week. Still, despite the loss, Tom Brady is optimistic.
Brady was asked by his old offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis, on SiriusXM NFL Radio if he thinks "the Patriots are pretty close to getting everyone healthy and getting ready for the stretch drive?”
Brady's answer was encouraging, though take it with a grain of salt, because what's he supposed to say, the sky is falling?
“I think we’re getting as close as we’ve been in a long time. This is kind of a good time for the bye. We’ve been at it for 14 weeks including the preseason. […] Hopefully we can move into this stretch healthy. I know guys are feeling better and working hard. I’ve been at the stadium every day and everyone’s excited about, you know, when you lose I think there’s a, you know, you’re disappointed you lost because you put a lot of effort into it but I think if you learn from the losses it becomes a positive and you say, ‘Guys, OK, we really clearly identified what we are not doing well, what we need to put more emphasis on,’ and a lot of times losses do that. And this week so much has been about our improvement and I think that when you look back on the film you gain confidence knowing that, you know, great, we’ve executed really well a lot of the times or sometimes we haven’t and moving forward these are the things we’ve got to do well to execute well so that we can go play our best and having all our players out there obviously helps the cause. I mean when you have your guys healthy and playing and practicing, you know, that’s only a positive and I think that can be a real positive for us moving forward.”
At 7-3, the Patriots season has been...interesting thus far.
They have victories over the Texans (who were bad at the time, but are now good at 6-3), the Colts (who were bad at the time, but now have three consecutive victories and one of the more prolific passing offenses in the league), the Chiefs (their lone loss of the season), the Bears (who were 3-3, but have won three in a row), and the Packers (who are the Packers, but now they're 4-5-1 with a coach on the hot seat). The Pats have also beat the Bills and the Dolphins, but they're the Bills and the Dolphins.
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On the flip side, they've been blown out by the Jaguars (who were good, and now they're bad at 3-6), the Lions (who were bad, won a couple games, now they're bad again, also 3-6), and the Titans (who were bad, then good, then bad, now, at 5-4...fine?).
New England is seventh in scoring offense, and 14th in scoring defense.
Point is, the Patriots really only have had one "measuring stick" game against a known commodity - the win over the Chiefs. We're not exactly sure what this team is yet. The Patriots have a couple of those "measuring stick" games in the second half - Week 13 against the Vikings and Week 15 at Pittsburgh - and they'll need to be in top shape.
The bye week comes at a great time as New England has struggled with injuries, losing Julian Edelman for the first four games with a PED suspension, and a rash of new players. Trent Brown left the game against the Titans, but he should be back after the bye. Rob Gronkowski has missed three games but seems to be on track for a return after the bye. Edelman appeared dinged up last week, but he was at practice this week. Sony Michel missed three games. Duke Dawson was activated from injured reserve. Rex Burkhead was back at practice last week and seems to be close to a return from IR when he's eligible before the Vikings game. Josh Gordon dislocated his pinky a couple times against the Packers, and dropped a few passes against the Titans. Shaq Mason is dealing with a calf injury.
Right now, New England is just focused on getting healthy and addressing areas that need improvement.
Brady's right - it's a great time for a bye week. And, of course, a Jets game - they're 3-7 - out of the bye week.
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