NFL Notebook: Why the next couple of weeks will tell us an awful lot about the 2018 Patriots

In this week’s edition of the NFL Notebook, why we’re on Helmet Watch when it comes to Tom Brady, why Cameron Wake has a chance to set a new mark against the Patriots’ quarterback, and who the New England locker room elected as union reps for the new season. But first, we look at a New England team that’s smack dab in the middle of (arguably) its most important stretch of the regular season.

1. We’ve heard a lot about Sunday being a vital game for the 2018 Patriots, a group that hopes to turn things around after a 1-2 start. But the contest against the Dolphins -- and the days immediately after it -- should provide us all with a measuring stick when it comes to finding the ceiling for this team. The truth of the matter? New England is currently in the midst of its most grueling stretch of the year -- three games in 12 days, with a date against the powerful Chiefs looming directly after that.

With the Thursday night schedule, three games in 12 days is a stretch that every team has to endure, so it’s not unique to the Patriots. More importantly, while it doesn’t always end up providing a defining moment for a team, success or failure in that compacted series of games can offer a snapshot into how good the group really is. In 2014, “On to Cincinnati” kicked off three games (and three wins) in 12 days, and served as a springboard on the way to a championship. Two years later, the Patriots had a similar late-season stretch where they beat the Ravens and Jets at home and Broncos (on the road) to get a bounce heading into the playoffs. In both of those years, the all-business response to the condensed schedule was enough to show critics those teams had what it took to survive when it came to the long haul.

To that point, the looming schedule for New England should provide an answer to a very basic question: Does the 2018 team have it? The Patriots get a boost when it comes to the return of Julian Edelman. And on the back end of the Thursday night game against the Colts, New England will get a whopping 10 days to prep for a date with mighty Kansas City at home on Oct. 14. So things should theoretically be on an upswing moving forward. But in the end, whether or not the 2018 team is able to rise to the many challenges over the next couple of weeks should provide a glimpse into whether or not it has genuine championship character.

2. Two of the things that stuck with me when talking to players on the defensive side of the ball the last few days: One, personal accountability was stressed this week. “Are you doing everything you can?” was an overriding question. Dont’a Hightower, always one of the most self-aware guys in the locker room, was asked about his own level of play and he didn’t sugar-coat things. “I’m elevating each week,” Hightower said. “Obviously it’s still early in the season. We all (have) got a lot of work to do. Me, personally, I hold myself to a higher standard than that. Pushing off of last week, I had a good week, but didn’t play great.” And two, there was a serious stress on the fundamentals this week in practice. Ultimately, the extended meeting we wrote about earlier this week wasn’t necessarily a come-to-Jesus moment for the members of the New England defense, but it’s certainly an indication the group is aware that even though it’s only Week 4, it needs to start playing with a greater sense of urgency than we’ve seen over the last two games.

3. By our extremely unscientific calculations, it appears Miami defensive end Cameron Wake has a chance to set a mark this weekend against the Patriots. The Dolphins’ veteran pass rusher has 10.5 career sacks of Tom Brady, just behind the two guys who got Brady most in their careers, Buffalo’s Aaron Schobel and Miami’s Jason Taylor, both of whom got Brady 12.5 times in the careers. (Wake is just ahead of former Jet Shaun Ellis, who had 10 career sacks of Brady.) A three-sack game would put him over the top — he’s had three or more sacks a game five times in his career. For the record, these totals are just sacks of Brady, not of New England. If we were including career sacks of the Patriots, we’d have to include old pal Joey Porter, who has 11 career sacks against New England, but five of them came against Matt Cassel in 2008. (A quick check of the numbers reveals one other guy who has a shot to break into the top three before it’s all said and done: Denver’s Von Miller, who has sacked Brady 7.5 times. What makes his numbers all the more impressive? He only faces Brady on a semi-regular basis, as opposed to the likes of Wake, who gets two chances a year at him, minimum.)