Belichick: “Good Win For Us” and More Following Patriots Week Seventeen Victory Over Jaguars

The New England Patriots returned to the win column in dominant fashion in Week Seventeen.

Quarterback Mac Jones completed 22 of 30 passes for 227 yards and three touchdown passes, two of which went to practice squad elevation wideout Kristian Wilkerson. Rookie Rhamondre Stevenson ran for 107 yards on 19 carries. On the preventive side of the ball, New England’s defensive backfield picked off Jaguars rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The Pats’ dominated in all three phases to earn a 50-10 victory at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. With the win, the Pats improved to 10-6 on the 2021 NFL Season.

As a result of their victory, the Patriots also improved their playoff standing, and now sit as the fifth seed in the AFC postseason positioning.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick met with the media, both postgame on Sunday, and again on Monday morning. Here are some of the highlights from Belichick’s meets with the media:

Postgame: Sunday, January 2, 2022

Opening Statement:

“All right, well, it was obviously a good win for us today. I thought the players really did a good job, came out, a lot of focus. High level of execution. It was an unusual kind of week with guys going out at the beginning of the week and then kind of trickling back as the week went on. I know those guys worked really hard just staying involved in the Zoom calls and stuff like that, but to be able to get these guys back and then go out there and play well, I thought that we played well in all three phases of the game. It was good. It’s what we needed to do, and hopefully we can build on this and play well next week and going forward. Good solid team win..all the way around. Excited to be back in the playoffs but big game coming up this week, take care of that. But feel like we made some progress today, but we’ve still got a long way to go here. Just need to keep grinding it out day by day. Hopefully we’ll do that and see where it takes us.”

Q: We just asked a lot of your guys how they felt about making the postseason after clinching after the Miami loss, and we basically heard six or seven different variations of, ‘we’re on to Miami.’ What’s the state of the team right now buying in and locking in to make sure they finish the regular season strong and committing to finishing out this season down the stretch, especially as COVID protocols make things trickier to try to coordinate?

“Yeah, we’ll just do what we always do, come in tomorrow and go through the game, go through the corrections, talk about this game and move on and prepare for Miami. Obviously they’re a good team. We lost to them the first game. It was a long time ago, but they’re a good football team. They won, whatever it was, seven, eight, nine games in a row. I can’t remember whatever it was, but they won a bunch of them. They’re a good football team. Got a lot of respect for them. There’s a lot of work to do to get ready for them, but we’ll start on that tomorrow night and Tuesday and then whenever the game is, we play them. Have they changed it? I don’t know, whenever it is..it is. We’ll play them when we play them.”

Q: Can you talk about Jakobi Meyers? Another big opening to the game and basically over his career it just seems like with a lot of players in and out of the lineup, COVID and whatnot he’s always there and maybe as consistent a guy as you have. Kristian Wilkerson says he embraced him from day one. Can you talk about how important Jakobi is to this team?

“Yeah, Jakobi has really done a good job in the room. We have some new players in the room with Nelly [Nelson Agholor] and KB [Kendrick Bourne] coming in this year. Even though they have more experience in the league, Jakobi has got a little more experience in this offense and he really has had a good work ethic, versatile guy, plays a lot of different positions. His role has changed, and he’s adapted over the time he’s been here with us – it’s his third year – whether it’s blocking, blocking the force, crack blocking, running different types of routes, playing all three positions, the X, the Z and the F spot. He’s embraced whatever role he’s had and has gotten better at some of the things that he needed to work on as he matured and gained experience in the league. It’s a great example for all of our guys to look at. Undrafted player that’s come in and established a role for himself, and he’s created a lot of value because he can do a lot of things, and he’s worked hard to do it.”

Q: Some notable contributions from Kristian Wilkerson today. What have you observed from him behind the scenes this year that put him in position to contribute today?

“Yeah, Wilk is a hard working kid. He normally plays the top or one of the top receivers of our opponents for our defense, so he gets targeted a lot in practice. But he’s always ready to go when we’ve had injuries or guys that needed to step in, didn’t practice or that type of thing, he’s stepped in and is always well prepared, knew what to do, and has been productive in practice. It was nice to see him get the opportunity today and take advantage of it, cash in and play well. He also played in the kicking game. He was able to contribute there. Just overall he’s helping us in both phases of the game, and the more you can do.”

Q: David Andrews mentioned that you’ll need to stay on schedule to have success offensively. Obviously you did that today. How much did good gains on early downs contribute to that success?

“Yeah, we were one-for-ten last week, and this week we were gaining yards on first and second down. Those third downs – if it gets skipped over or you’re dealing with a lot better situation where you can have a potential run or throw the ball at any of the five receivers, and Mac [Jones] scrambled I think one time, too. Yeah, that’s a lot easier than when you’re in third-and-long and you’ve got a couple guys you can throw it to that can get down there and get the distance that you need. Yeah, first and second down have a lot to do with third down and staying on track with the running game and some good possession passes and some good running after the catch and good ball carrying by our backs, that all helped.”

Q: After the last couple weeks, how nice was it to see a quick start, the defense get the three-and-out and then the offense getting a long touchdown drive there?

“That was great. It was great to play from ahead instead of playing from behind and being down 20-0 and all that. It’s brutal. Yeah, it’s really good.”

Q: I know you’re a student of history. Today was the Patriots’ 10th win of the season and your 20th 10-win season. You are tied now with Don Shula for the most all time with 10-win seasons. Any thoughts about reaching that plateau with Coach Shula?

“It’s flattering, but again, it’s really the players. Players win games. Been fortunate to coach a lot of good, a lot of great players during that time. When you have good players, they can go out and win games for you, so it’s really – they’re the ones that win them. I’ve been lucky.”

Q: I’m from Mac Jones’ hometown. Can you talk about what he has been able to do this year, only four Hall of Fame quarterbacks have ever in their rookie seasons led their teams to the playoffs and those were all in the pre-free agency era. Can you talk about whether it’s his maturity level, his preparation, whatever it is that has enabled him to get your team to this point?

“Yeah, well again, Mac is super consistent. Every day is really the same day for Mac. He’s always well prepared. He’s in early. He’s ready to go. He knows what we’re going to be doing, and he’s already got a head start on it. He maximizes the information that the coaches give him, maximizes the walk-throughs, the practice reps, and learns from whatever happens in those situations. He’s smart. He’s a good learner, but he’s got good instincts and good mechanics. He’s just worked hard to get better every day. A lot of consistency and great work ethic and really pays attention to details and has just improved in every area throughout the course of the year. Continues to improve on a daily basis. He’s just a really great person to coach because he’s so responsive to trying to do everything the way that you want to do it. Josh [McDaniels] has done a fantastic job with him, and Mac has really, I think, embraced the wisdom that Josh has transmitted to him, and he played extremely well today.”

Q: After a 2-4 start, you got a big win against the Jets and everything seemed to be back on track. Last two weeks you got back-to-back losses. Did you feel today’s win will help you to reset the team going forward?

“Every week is its own week. So I don’t think this week will have much to do with the Miami game, just like I don’t think the Buffalo game had much to do with today’s game. We’ll get ready for a new team, a new challenge, and we’ll see where we’re at on Sunday against a good Dolphins team. It’s nice to win. It’s nice to go out there and have a good week and have that be realized with the score and the way we played the game. But next week is a new week and we’re starting all over again. We emptied the tank out today. We’re going to have to spend all week filling it up and be ready to put it out there again on Sunday against Miami.”

*transcript provided by Patriots Media Relations, via FastScript, ASAP Sports

Monday, January 3

On Trent Brown’s impact on the offense:

“Trent does a good job for us. Whether it be blocking in pass or run protection, he’s always aware of what’s going on. He did nice job getting out there on those tosses. It’s been great to have him back. He has changed a lot of things offensively for the better, especially keeping the width of the pocket and giving the quarterback more space to maneuver. Both in the running game and the passing game, he has made a big difference.”

On the feeling of clinching a playoff spot:

“Definitely [it’s a great feeling]. When you start the year, you want to be in the postseason.. the fact that we are one of the playoff teams, it’s a part of the goal. There is a long way to go, and we’ll see what happens…but what you want is to be playing in the postseason.”

On the traits he looks for in an undrafted player:

“First, you try to evaluate the player, or players, that might be best for you. There is a lot that goes into that. You evaluate their skills, why they are available…of course, chartacher trains and work ethic are a big part of it. Guys like Jon Jones, Jakobi Meyers, J.C. Jackson understood that from the start…they had to perform well to get out there. But, we give players that opportunity…and hopefully players that are in that situation recognize that we are going to give the player his shot and that we will put him on the roster if he performs well. Every player has to earn their spot, earn the trust…but those guys know that they have a bit farther to go, and we’ve been fortunate to have some good ones along the way.”

On Myles Bryant’s penalty:

“Well, the rule is based on the posture of the defender…I have to take a bit closer look at the play to get a better understanding. We may need to coach that better. But we don't want to lead with the head…that ‘L’ shaped posture is what we need to avoid…I think that’s what the officials are looking for.”

On Adrian Phillips’ reminding in New England:

“Adrian’s done a great job for us the past couple of years. He’s been a good player for us on 3rd and 4th down…and early downs as well. Smart player, he is always around the ball for us and is highly productive. He has great instinctiveness, and awareness. But, especially his versatility in a defense like ours. It’s great to have him around.”

On all three phases of the game helping each other to victory:

“That’s what we want. Whether it be a turnover from the defense, or coverage from special teams, or a solid punt or kickoff…that’s winning football. You always want to take advantage of those opportunities. It’s important for all units to complement each other…when that happens, good things usually happen. We try to instill the importance of complementary football every day.”

On preparing for Miami (potentially practicing indoors?):

“We’ll do what we always do…evaluate this week's situation and do what’s best for the team. We haven’t got to that point yet…we are still finishing up the Jacksonville game…and then we will shift our focus to how we want to practice..and determine where we need more work, or possibly less work. Those will be things we will start to do tonight and into tomorrow as we set ourselves up for the week.”

On Kristian Wilkerson’s performance on Sunday and his place on the team moving forward:

“Wilk gave us some plays in the kicking game and offense. He had a couple of good weeks in practice, and we felt that he deserved his opportunity. It is really a week-to-week thing in terms of elevations and roster moves. Last week, there were a lot of unknowns…a lot of teams are in that situation right now. We'll take it day-by-day…but Kristian has worked hard and done a great job for us, and he has done that all year. He took advantage of his opportunity yesterday. We’ll see how it goes.”