Robert Kraft speaks on state of the Patriots: "It's really disappointing"

BOSTON -- The Patriots are in the midst of their worst season in a very long time. Team owner Robert Kraft hasn't made himself available to make public comments on the team, instead opting to remain in the background as a keenly interested observer.

Yet with his team in Frankfurt on an international stage on Sunday, Kraft sat down for a pregame interview with the NFL Network's Rich Eisen. Toward the tail end of the seven-minute interview, Kraft was asked offer his thoughts on the state of the Patriots.

"Well uh," Kraft said, gathering his thoughts, "this is our 30th year that I've had the privilege of owning this team. And I've never been 2-7. So it's really disappointing. I had hoped that things would be a lot better, as I know our fan base did. And I hope today is a day to reset and make this a much better year. This isn't what we were expecting to happen this year."

The six Super Bowl wins and three more Super Bowl appearances over the past couple of decades have clearly wiped away Kraft's memory of the 2000 season, when the Patriots dropped to 2-8 before finishing the season at 5-11. But that was Bill Belichick's first year on the job, when he was transitioning the franchise out of the Pete Carroll era. 

The point was made that Kraft sees this season as the worst of his tenure.

Kraft did say that he broke character by speaking to the team this week, as he wanted to stress the significance of this game for the European fans who will be in attendance.

"Very much," Kraft said when asked how much he wants the Patriots to beat the Colts in Frankfurt. "I had fans come up on the street to me who had watched Matthew Slater's dad, Jackie, play here 33 years ago, and they remembered plays he had made. So I used that as an example to speak to the team after practice and say except for the Super Bowl, I don't know that there are any other games that  create the memories that these international games do, where people get so little of them. And it's a great chance to make a mark and great memories."

Kraft said that his post-practice message to the team was the only time he's spoken to the players in that setting this year.