Bill O'Brien: Don't write Patriots' obituary just yet

BOSTON -- Realistically, the Patriots could have recovered and salvaged their season after the 38-3 beatdown in Dallas. But following up that stinker with a 34-0 blowout loss at home to the Saints was the signal to most people that this season will be a dud, the worst New England has experienced since the year 2000 -- at least.

Offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien isn't quite ready to throw in the towel, though.

"There's a lot of season left," O'Brien said Tuesday. "You know, there's a lot of season left and there's always obituaries being written but you know, there's a lot of football to be played. So let's see if we can get better. And I think the NFL is always about who can improve the fastest, and we have a long way to go -- don't get me wrong. But, you know, hopefully we can get there."

O'Brien's hope is rooted in glimpses -- albeit not too many of them -- of the offense succeeding in small doses, despite the overall results.

"There's times, like I've said, where we show glimpses of being -- very few times, I get it, in the last two weeks -- of showing glimpses of what we can be, but it's not enough," he said. "So we have to be more consistent in what we're doing on the practice field as coaches and players. That's really what we're working hard on."

O'Brien pinpointed turnovers as the offense's biggest issue, with New England giving the ball away 10 times already this year. Mac Jones has been the main culprit, with his six interceptions and one lost fumble, and with four of those turnovers leading directly to defensive scores.

Despite that, O'Brien said "I do" when asked if he anticipates that Jones will remain the starting quarterback this week in Las Vegas. O'Brien disagreed with any notion that the third-year QB could use a "mental break" that would come with moving to a backup spot after struggling for two straight games.

"No, there's no time for mental breaks," O'Brien said while smiling at such a phrase. "Those are on your days off, I guess you can take a little mental break. But it's the grind of the season. In order to be in this league -- as a coach, as a player, as anybody in this league -- you have to be mentally tough. There's a grind. There's a grind that goes to the league, and it's a 17-week grind and we all have to be mentally tough, you know?" 

With head coach Bill Belichick stating that the team will have to "start over" this week, O'Brien indicated he and the offense will be working on just about everything one step at a time.

"The sun came up today, and we're gonna practice today and we're gonna go get after it and be fundamentally sound today and see what happens tomorrow," he said. "One day at a time."