FOXBORO, Mass. — If the New England Patriots believe they can go undefeated this season, they aren’t about to say it.
That’s because they have respect for the rest of the NFL and don’t believe they can just cruise through the league like it’s no problem.
The Patriots went 16-0 in the regular season before losing Super Bowl XLII to the New York Giants during the 2007 campaign. They went 14-2 in 2016 and made numerous improvements to their roster over the offseason, which is why talk of 19-0 is all the rage.
“Well, I think it’s quite foolish to believe and to buy into some of the things that are being said about our football team right now,” special teamer Matthew Slater said Wednesday. “We have yet to go out and have a competitive practice in pads in 2017, so I think we need to remember that and understand that it’s hard to have success in this league. There are so many good players, so many good coaches.
“I honestly think it’s quite disrespectful to say some of the things that have been said about our football team to the other players and coaches in this league. We have to remember who we are. We have to remember that we’ve got to build this thing from the ground up and all we can worry about is what happens today. We can control today and then, you know, from there hopefully the good Lord wakes us up tomorrow and we’ll take care of tomorrow.”
Safety Devin McCourty agreed fully.
“To say before we even tackle somebody, throw a pass that we’re going to beat everybody on our schedule, I think that is kind of disrespectful to the work and what everyone is trying to put in to be a team,” McCourty said. “Obviously every goal from every team is to not lose. You don’t go out there and plan to lose, but I think to not see anything from a team and say they’re going to win every game and disrespect every opponent on the schedule is kind of ludicrous.
“But I think the good thing is we don’t pay attention to that. We kind of know we have a good group of guys that have been here for a while that knows what it takes to go in and have a good football team, knows how hard it is to go out there every Sunday or whatever day you play and win a game. So we know the type of work we have to put in just to have a shot to go out there and win.”
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
