Perry describes the mood in the Patriots locker room after the loss to the Dolphins originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Jerod Mayo era in New England began with a stirring victory over the Cincinnati Bengals. From there everything has gone downhill.
The Patriots’ 15-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium on Sunday marked their fourth straight loss and drops them to 1-4 on the season. It was a maddening performance against a very beatable Dolphins team that was on its own three-game losing streak after losing starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in Week 2.
So what was the atmosphere like in the New England locker room after Sunday’s loss? Is this team trending toward a “mutiny,” a word that Staff reporter Evan Lazar floated last week. (and then came back)?
Our Patriots insider Phil Perry offered his perspective on a new Patriot Talk Podcast with Tom E. Curran after speaking to players at Gillette Stadium after the loss.
Patriot Talk Podcast: The consequences: Patriots pick the worst time for sloppy performance | Listen and subscribe | Watch on YouTube
“Frustrated. Frustrated (and) a little tired, is what I would say,” Perry said. “Losing is starting to take its toll (four games in a row now) and I think the players are maybe coming off that way, because there aren’t many good answers they can give to someone like me.”
The patriots committed a whopping 12 penalties for 105 yards on Sunday after entering the game with 16 penalties set in their previous four games (fewest in the NFL through Week 4). Perry noted that players were well aware that those penalties proved costly Sunday.
“When you have 12 penalties and you start talking about discipline, I mean, obviously that’s a problem,” Perry said. “Now, it really wasn’t an issue for the first four games of the season, but (Sunday), 12 penalties and 105 yards blows them away in terms of their chances of winning this game.
“I know they were one step away from scoring a touchdown and maybe the outcome was a little different, but you can’t, even against the Dolphins, the Tyler Huntley-led Dolphins, you can’t be careless and expect to win. They’re so bad offensively that they can’t survive those kinds of mistakes.”
The Patriots almost scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:08 left, but Wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk was ruled out of bounds. after his heel hit the grass offside. But the reality is that New England had several other opportunities to win Sunday’s game and blew them with a combination of poor execution and lack of discipline.
A win would go a long way toward improving morale in Foxboro, but it could be difficult to come by next Sunday when the Patriots face the 4-1 Houston Texans at home.
Also in this episode:
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Tom discusses why the refs made the right call in overturning Ja’Lynn Polk’s touchdown catch and reacts to the team’s completely undisciplined play in the loss.
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Are Jerod Mayo and Alex Van Pelt on the same page?
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Is it time for Drake Maye?
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Tom and Phil share their ‘Stock Watch’ picks for Week 5 – who’s up and who’s down?