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Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. Players on 4-11 season: Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells once famously said, “You are what your record says you are.” Patriots defensive tackle Davon Godchaux, among others in the team’s locker room, doesn’t necessarily see it the same way.
“I’ve been a part of bad teams before. I don’t think we’re a bad team, but our record says otherwise,” Godchaux said. “We have a lot of great players who can do a lot of great things around here, but it just hasn’t been our season.
“I was talking to someone the other day and they were telling me, ‘The Patriots dominated over a two-decade period. Not accepting that it’s a bad season, but it’s OK to have a bad season. To have one really bad year to rebuild and regroup, it happens sometimes.’ You see guys still battling. It’s that pride we have.”
The 4-11 Patriots visit the Buffalo Bills on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS), then will host the New York Jets next weekend before their season mercifully comes to an end.
As media-based speculation on the future of coach Bill Belichick swirls — based in part on owner Robert Kraft saying in March how important it was for the team to make the playoffs — some of the most experienced players in the locker room reflected on a season few saw coming. They were steadfast in their belief that their 4-11 record, while a major disappointment, doesn’t reflect who they are.
“When you think about bad teams, I think they have infighting, guys that aren’t committed, guys that don’t want to work hard, guys that don’t appreciate their opportunity or like each other. We don’t have that here,” longtime captain Matthew Slater said.
“We have guys that have great perspective on what it means to play in this league. They value their opportunities and cherish one another. I feel and believe we’ve competed each and every week. We go into every game believing we can win this game, so it is a funny thing because you feel all that would add up to different results. It just hasn’t. That’s unfortunate. I’m proud to be part of this group, which has shown a lot of resolve, a lot of character. It’s just the way the cookie has crumbled for us this year.”
The Patriots rank last in the NFL in points per game (14.1), as their offense has been holding them back.
Slater noted the “very thin divide” between winning and losing in the NFL, while adding, “There’s a process of learning how to win in this league. When you’re a rookie, you don’t know what that looks like. I think as you advance through your career, you start to understand.
“We’re a younger team. For a lot of years around here, we had some very established veterans who had a lot of success and that kind of permeated. I think now we’re really younger and still learning, and that’s OK. That’s part of the process. I think we’ve embraced that process and ultimately we’re going to get it turned around.”
Starting cornerback Jonathan Jones, a two-time Super Bowl winner in his eighth year with the franchise, doesn’t see the franchise far from a return to more consistent winning.
“It’s just been execution — outside of one or two games this year, you can’t say there wasn’t an opportunity to win,” he said. “Not a miracle play to win it, but just something small. And I think that’s how you end up with a bad record and you look like a bad team when you consistently can’t make those plays. From my perspective, that’s the biggest thing.”
That could be tested Sunday against the Bills, who are fine-tuning for a potential deep playoff run. The Patriots will need their defense, which has been a silver lining, to slow down quarterback Josh Allen & Co.
Defensive lineman Deatrich Wise Jr., a captain in his seventh season with the franchise, pointed to resilience as an attribute that speaks to a team he believes is better than its record.
“You can tell the heart of a team when the record is like this,” he said. “People want to say ‘tank it, start over,’ but we’re out here still fighting.”
2. BB’s all-time team: Reflecting on Rodney Harrison, the first-time Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist, Belichick sparked a fun discussion by saying Harrison was the best safety he’s ever coached and he would be on his all-time team. Who else is on that team? Belichick isn’t revealing his full roster just yet, but said quarterback Tom Brady, tight end Rob Gronkowski, OLB Lawrence Taylor, Harrison and coverage player Matthew Slater are on it.
3. Wilson report: Cornerback Marco Wilson, who the Patriots were awarded on waivers Wednesday, had been benched this season in Arizona and is scheduled to earn around $3 million in 2024 (he played enough snaps through his first three NFL seasons to qualify for escalated pay). The combination of poor play and finances likely led to the Cardinals letting him go.
But as evidenced by the Patriots, Broncos and Titans putting in claims on him, the 6-foot, 191-pound Wilson has some things going for him. One personnel executive familiar with Wilson said his movement and ball skills are good, but there are concerns about his slight frame and limited physicality and strength. The Patriots are thin at cornerback and could throw Wilson right into the mix Sunday against the Bills.
Bill Belichick welcomes CB Marco Wilson (19) to his first Patriots practice. pic.twitter.com/NDnql4YsHa
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) December 28, 2023
4. Klemm vs. Wendell: When Belichick was hiring an offensive line coach last offseason, he picked Oregon’s Adrian Klemm over Buffalo’s Ryan Wendell — a decision that is timely to revisit with the Patriots facing the Bills on Sunday. Wendell landed with the Rams, who have allowed the third-fewest sacks per pass play and rank seventh in total yards and ninth in rushing average.
Wendell, who played for the Patriots (2009-15) before starting his coaching career in Buffalo, drew rave reviews from Rams coach Sean McVay, who said Friday: “[Wendell is an] incredibly smart, refreshingly secure person who has a great mental toughness about himself.”
5. Zeke the workhorse: Veteran running back Ezekiel Elliott has played 146 of a possible 168 offensive snaps (86.9%) over the past three games since Rhamondre Stevenson injured his ankle. He’s on pace to finish as the team’s leading rusher (549 yards, 2 TDs) and currently leads the team with 45 receptions. “A lot of people questioned that he still had some left in the tank,” running backs coach Vinnie Sunseri said. “I think he’s proven a lot of people wrong.”
6. Foes in ’24: If the Patriots lose one of their remaining two games (at Bills, vs. Jets), they will finish in last place in the AFC East for the first time since 2000. If they win their remaining two games, they will finish in third place.
That bears watching as it relates to their 2024 opponents — they will host the AFC West team that finishes in the corresponding spot (Chargers, Broncos, Raiders still possible), and visit the AFC North team (Bengals or Steelers) and NFC North team (Bears, Packers, or Vikings) that finish in the corresponding spot.
Home: Buffalo, Miami, New York Jets, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle, AFCW.
Away: Buffalo, Miami, New York Jets, Arizona, Jacksonville, San Francisco, Tennessee, AFCN, NFCN.
7. They said it: “I’m humbled. I’m honored that Coach has seen fit to keep me around all these years. I hope that I’ve represented his faith in me to the best of my ability. I hope that I’ve represented this organization, my teammates, my family as well as I could have. Very thankful. Just thankful for words like that and experience I’ve had here. It’s been the experience of a lifetime.” — 16-year veteran Slater, on Belichick referring to him as “just about the perfect player”
8. Boosting Baringer: The NFL is expected to announce the final fan vote for the Pro Bowl early this week, which will be followed by Wednesday’s announcement of the full AFC and NFC teams. At the last tally, rookie punter Bryce Baringer was the lone Patriots player leading at any position in the fan vote. The 35 punts he’s placed inside the 20-yard line lead the NFL. Kicker Chad Ryland, who has leaned heavily on Baringer during his up-and-down rookie season, has been his biggest booster in the locker room.
9. Did you know? — Part I: Patriots defensive lineman Christian Barmore, who had three sacks last week against the Broncos, can become just the second player in franchise history to record three sacks in back-to-back weeks; Hall of Famer Andre Tippett did it in 1987 against the Cowboys (Nov. 15) and Colts (Nov. 22).
10. Did you know? — Part II: If the Patriots beat the Bills on Sunday, it will mark just the third time in the Super Bowl era that the team has posted victories against the same opponent as an underdog twice in one regular season. The others were against the Bills (1966) and Colts (2001).
Source: www.espn.com