MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — First of all, I just want to point out that what I'm about to say has nothing to do with Drake Maye.
He very much looked dejected after this loss as he rested his head on an equipment trunk while waiting to go to the podium. He also looked exhausted and beaten up, which he should have since he was running for his life trying to make plays in the Patriots' eventual 34-15 loss to the Dolphins. Maye also spent considerable contemplative time at his locker going over the game in his mind.
Nor is this comment about the entire locker room. It's never everyone.
But the vibe in the Patriots' postgame locker room was ... interesting. Been trying to come up with the right word for it. I think I've settled on unbothered. I've been in a bunch of different NFL locker rooms over the years, including several on the other side when the Dolphins weren't so hot post-Dan Marino. And in most, if you laid an egg like that (they trailed 31-0 at one point) against a divisional opponent — especially one that entered with a 4-6 record — you'd pretty much expect everyone to be miserable, irritable and not a whole lot of fun to talk to. I can almost guarantee you Jason Taylor probably would have stared daggers at me for asking a question, if not made me look like a fool with his response (hey, it's a long and illustrious career).
It wasn't that way in the Patriots' locker room after the game. Guys were affable and insightful. There were even smiles and some jokes. There was no tension in the air, where you feel like you need to walk on eggshells. There was no whiff of players being pissed off or embarrassed, which made the rank-and-file the complete opposite of fans at home and on social media, who were venting hot and heavy after this one.
Now comes the important question: What does it mean, if anything?
And that's what I've been grappling with.
First of all, it could be nothing more than the guys, being down 31-0 into the fourth quarter, having dealt with their feelings and issues on the sideline during the rest of the game. They could have gone through the first four stages of grief during the game, since there was plenty of time after getting outscored 24-0 in the second quarter alone (yeah, that happened). They could have gone through denial, anger, bargaining and depression before we caught up to the them in the locker room for acceptance.
I mean, that's the easy and least problematic explanation. No harm, no foul.
Do I think they've begun to quit on Jerod Mayo? No, I don't think that. Haven't seen that on the field, one bit, the entire season. And Davon Godchaux and Kyle Dugger pretty much dismissed that kind of sentiment out of hand when I asked them.
"A lot has been us, you know, as players to do more," Godchaux said. "And you know, we got a lot of guys who, I guess is for me that I have to play with a lot of guys, new faces on the team, you know, front seven, particularly, you know, but we just got to gel together as a team. If it's on the coaches, and I'm sure they're taking accountability ... But everything can't be on the coaches, you know? We can be playing this and that but then you look in the mirror and you take accountability, you know, getting down 24-0 in the first half. That can't happen."
"No, I don't," Dugger said, when asked if the coaches had a hand in this. "We came out and we beat ourselves from the jump. It doesn't matter who you play in this league. The things that we were making mistakes on, would have us down to any opponent in the National Football League. So that's what it came to, just us being ourselves and not doing how we're capable of doing it,
"We have to look in the mirror. The coaches' job is to put us in position to have success and they've done that."
Could it be the locker room just looks at this team, especially on the offensive line, receiver and some spots at linebacker and safety, and just have resigned themselves to the fact that they're not good enough and compete with more talented teams?
That has also been rejected by Mayo and players, especially after the coach's own comments on Monday.
"We have enough talent in that room to win football games and I stand by that," Mayo said in the wake of the Rams loss. "I have to be better, the coaches have to be better and the players have to be better. But we have enough talent in there."
So how does Mayo rectify that comment with falling behind a divisional opponent — who you should know well and prepped for in the offseason — 31-0?
"Yeah, it starts with me," Mayo said in response to my question. "I think it starts with me and getting these guys ready to go."
Godchaux agreed with Mayo about having enough talent.
"It's tough to rectify, like you said," he said. "I mean, I can't sit up there make no excuses to you. I believe that we have good players. I know we have good players, but we just got to play as a team all the time. ... I'm more concerned about how we came out and responded in the second half. Couple three and outs, Gonzalez was able to get a fumble recovery. Drake Maye was able to throw a touchdown to Austin Hooper. I thought we had a chance to even put more points out on the board, but we just can't get it clicking on offense, defense, especially at the same time. You know, it's one group maybe playing good, another group playing bad. You know, we need all three phases to play good. .. We just got to do that as a collective. Like you said, it's no excuse to start 31-0 to zero with a division opponent we play every year."
Earlier in the press conference, Mayo seemed to inject an excuse — the very late bye week.
"Yeah, we came out flat and it's a long season. It is a long season, and the guys recognize that," Mayo said. You know, when you get the schedule early on, you have to see where the bye week is. In saying that, look, no excuse from me, and hopefully no excuse from the players. We just have to be better."
I'm not going to dismiss the late bye-week thing completely, even if it's convenient excuse-making. The Patriots have now lost nine of their last 11 games to fall to 3-9. That would have an impact on anyone.
Do I think jobs are on the line? For the most part, no. But as I said at 1-6, the Patriots need to show improvement in the second half of the season. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. But I'm worried if what I saw in the Patriots locker room is any indication for the rest of the season — when they finish with the Cardinals, Bills, Chargers and Bills — then that could change.
The big worry is that the standard isn’t high enough anymore, and this isn't a recent thing. The Patriots had 13 penalties on Sunday, including six of the pre-snap variety. Those were happening throughout training camp as well, and here we are on the precipice of December and it's the same thing. I worry there's not enough urgency every day in the building to, forget about aiming for championships, grind and demand excellence to just win that's week's game. I worry the environment Mayo has created, letting guys be themselves, is more important than doing what's necessary to win that week.
If this continues, something's not right and it's not just about the talent. (Of course, I say that but I'm calling it now: Maye has his coming out party next week against the Colts as he shreds Gus Bradley's pathetic scheme and powers New England to a victory).
"The last thing I told the guys, it's all about us – and this is before the game – I said it's about us. It's not about anybody else," Mayo said. "It's about us and to make a commitment to one another, and that's what the game really came down to. It's us going out there kicking ourselves in the butt or stomping our toe against the wall because of penalties. We don't have a team -- I don't think any team wants to go backwards in any cause, but we did that today.
"Look, once those guys cross the white lines, there's nothing I can do for them. There's nothing any coach can do for them once they cross the white line. It's my job to continue to prepare not only them but our coaches to go out here and play better football."
Time is ticking.
