Patriots held a team meeting Thursday to "address the elephant in the room"
FOXBORO -- The Patriots have lost six straight and were just called soft by their head coach. They are at a tipping point already, and understand that before they can fix things on the field, they need to get the locker room in order.
So on Thursday morning, the 1-6 Patriots held a team meeting. Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne said team captain Ja'Whaun Bentley led the meeting, which was held to "address the elephant in the room."
But really, it feels like there's an entire circus taking place inside the locker room.
The message of the meeting was that everyone -- from players on the roster to Jerod Mayo and his coaching staff -- need to focus on what is truly important. Everyone needs to put in more work and focus on what is best for the team -- not what's best for themselves as an individual.
While that message applies to players all over the field, it sounds like the wide receivers room needed to be reminded of the team concept of football the most on Thursday.
Are Patriots receivers putting in the work off the field?
New England's wide receivers have been extremely disgruntled through the first seven weeks of the season, and have expressed their frustration by being demonstrative on the field and vocal with reporters. DeMario Douglas wasn't happy with his lack of targets early in the season. Kayshon Boutte voiced a similar complaint on Wednesday, while veteran K.J. Osborn wasn't very convincing when asked if he wanted to remain with the team ahead of the trade deadline.
But it's time for players to stop complaining about themselves and work harder to make the team better. That includes better effort and focus in practice, and more commitment when they're away from the facilities.
"We had a really great team meeting this morning where that was pointed out," offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said Thursday morning. "Obviously, at 1-6, it's not good enough across the board, any of us.
"We need to be better," added Van Pelt. "We need to work harder. We need to rehab harder. We have to refresh better. We have to take care of ourselves. We have to spend more time in the room."
Veteran receiver Kendrick Bourne said the meeting was used to recalibrate the team's focus. Forget the outside noise or your individal accolades, and do what it takes to win a football game.
"That's where we've been failing. We've been getting distracted on everything else and being too individualized. Football is the ultimate team sport," said Bourne.
It all starts on the practice field, but it takes committment beyond what's done inside the walls of Gillette Stadium.
"It's just the choices we make as a team. If we want to win, if we want to be great, if we want to win Super Bowls, go to the playoffs, we have to take care of our bodies, we have to train, we have to eat right, sleep, we have to do everything it takes to be great," said Bourne. "There's other teams that are doing everything. If we're doing the bare minimum, then we're going to get the result we got."
Team meetings can be an effective way to get everyone to come together, but they don't always work. Just ask the 2018 Boston Celtics.
The best way for the Patriots to get rid of all this drama is to start winning games.
"Losing is creating all this drama. If we want to change anything we have to win," said Bourne. "This week is where it starts with the Jets and that's what we have to focus on."
Tune in to Sunday's Patriots-Jets clash on WBZ-TV -- your flagship station of the New England Patriots. Coverage kicks off Sunday morning with Patriots GameDay at 11:30 a.m. (which you can also stream on CBSBoston.com), and switch to TV38 after the game for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!
