Bentley addressed the recent noise around the team on Thursday.
New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo knows there is plenty of outside noise around his football team.
At 1-6 in the midst of a six game losing streak, the frustration has become evident. Players have told other to check their egos at the door. Others have been vocal on social media or expressed concern with how teammates have been handling themselves off the field.
All the noise led to a team meeting on Thursday to address the elephant in the room.
“We had a really great team meeting this morning where that was pointed out,” offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said. “At 1-6, it’s not good enough across the board. Any of us. We need to be better. We need to work harder. We need to rehab harder. Refresh better. Take care of ourselves and spend more time in the room. So, a good meeting this morning demanding more of everyone across the board.”
According to Kendrick Bourne, the meeting was held by captain Ja’Whaun Bentley, who remains out indefinitely with a torn pec. Following the loss in London, Bourne was the one to note how his teammates lacked energy. The veteran told the Boston Herald that that was due to personal decisions which included staying up late or what players were eating.
Bentley discussed those off-field decisions while sharing an overall message that players need to stick together.
“It’s just staying focused on what’s important. I think that’s where we’ve been failing. Getting distracted by everything else,” Bourne said Thursday. “Being too individualized. Football is the ultimate team sport.”
Bourne’s wide receiver room has been the main cause of the noise. Beyond his comments, K.J. Osborn and Kayshon Boutte made it clear this past week the displeasure with their roles/involvement in the offense. Ja’Lynn Polk posted a peace sign emoji on his Instagram story after another challenging game.
As the oldest receiver in the room, Bourne, 29, is doing his best to instill a team-first mentality into the younger group of receivers — one he noted can lack maturity at times as a new generation adjusts to life in the league.
“We have to keep helping young guys become who they truly want to be,” Bourne shared. “They just can’t see it, the vision is not there. It takes a village to raise a kid. So as a team, that’s what we are — we’re helping our young guys grow and we just have to keep fighting to help them be where they want to be.”
Much of the noise will be quieted with a win, which has clearly been hard to come by for New England this season. They will try to change that this weekend against the New York Jets, which is where Van Pelt wants his receiver’s focus to be.
“We all understand we’re frustrated. Nobody’s going to be happy at 1-6. That’s just the reality of it. But I think that [receiver] room in particular needs to keep the focus inward,” Van Pelt said. “We have a big game this week. All of our focus should be on how we can get a W on Sunday. It’s a very good opponent coming in.
“I understand the frustrations. That’s part of losing football. The best way to take care of that is to get a win. I think our focus right now needs to solely be on the Jets because it’s a challenge.”