New England Patriots
“Don’t let anybody take the joy of what we do. Joy is authentic.”
FOXBOROUGH — The Patriots might be dreading what awaits on Monday when it comes to the film review after their 24-23 win over the Falcons.
New England still managed to come away with a victory on Sunday at Gillette Stadium, but the Patriots whiffled on multiple chances to deliver a knockout blow against the Falcons — letting them hang around en route to a one-point victory.
Even with Drake Maye getting knocked for two turnovers — directly leading to 10 Atlanta points — and New England’s defense running into issues with both generating pressure (one sack against Michael Penix Jr.) and slowing down a top pass catcher like Drake London (three touchdowns), New England still escaped with a win.
That victory might have been secured off of Atlanta kicker Parker Romo shanking an extra-point attempt, but Mike Vrabel wasn’t going to strike a pessimistic tone despite his team’s uneven performance on Sunday.
“Just get ready to go on the road,” Vrabel said of his message to the team after Sunday’s victory. “Understand that that’s how it goes in this league sometimes. It’s tough. But embrace — don’t let anybody take the joy of what we do. Joy is authentic. Joy comes from these guys caring about each other, being happy for the guy next to them that made a play.
“Joy is about what we do in here, and I think that they need to embrace that and be thankful for what they get to do and what I get to do. We talked about when you get — sometimes you get this taken away from you, whether you’re a player and you get cut or you’re a coach and you get fired and you get another opportunity, you want to try to make the most of it and enjoy it.”
While Vrabel stressed the importance of taking the positives away from up-and-down play, Maye was a bit more critical of his own game before looking more at the big picture.
“First — I’ve got to play better for this team down the road,” Maye said. “I think it’s tough, it’s tough in a game where you win and you can feel in that locker room that these guys know we can play better. And I think it’s a good feeling to have, but also at the same time, it’s tough to win in this league.
“So you’ve got to enjoy it. … There are so many things to learn from this game. And I’m just proud of this team. Doesn’t matter if it’s 24-23 or 3-2. Proud we got the win.”
All things considered, Maye and the Patriots still did enough to dole out damage against the Falcons. Matched up against an Atlanta defense that allowed an average of just 149 passing yards entering Week 9, Maye threw for 259 passing yards and two touchdowns — while completing 19 of his 29 pass attempts.
Still, Maye and the Patriots were unable to turn Sunday’s game into a lopsided result — given both Maye’s turnovers (a strip-sack and an interception) to go along with an uneven second half marred by pass-protection woes and lapses in execution.
After Maye’s interception in the third quarter — a result of a miscommunication between the Patriots QB and Hunter Henry — CBS cameras captured Vrabel offering words of encouragement to his signal-caller on the bench.
“He’s great at coming up to me after really every drive,” Maye said of Vrabel. “He comes over and says something to me, always positive, always wanting me to rally the guys around me, always challenging me to battle adversity and get the guys going.
“I think I just appreciate the way he coaches me. He’s hard on me, but he’s very positive, and I think he wants the best out of me. Everything that he says to me, I think it’s going to be important and become true.”
Sunday stood as a change of pace from the Patriots, who have been able to run up the score on a few lesser opponents over the last few weeks.
But even with Maye acknowledging his own miscues, the 23-year-old QB acknowledged that there should be plenty of positives taken out of a game where both he and teammates overcame their fair share of adversity.
“I think just trying to enjoy these wins,” Maye said. “It’s tough to win in this league, and from my short career in this league, I think you’ve just got to enjoy it when you get in the win column, enjoy getting another chance next week to face a good team on the road.
“I think you just enjoy the wins and know deep down I’m frustrated and I want some plays back, but that’s a good defense we faced, and those guys in that locker room are cool to be around and play with.”
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