FOXBORO, Mass. — Bill Belichick and his coaching staff could have handled Monday's team meeting in one of two ways.
They could have chewed out the players for Sunday's 20-point beating in Cleveland, broken them down for a poor week of practice and threatened some with pink slips. Instead, the coaching staff stayed on point with the meetings and film sessions, and they went through the series of mistakes like they usually do. Obviously, though, that was a more taxing chore this Monday than most.
The coaching staff's approach wound up being a breath of fresh air for the players, who already knew how lousy they performed Sunday and didn’t need to be berated over it. They figured they had already faced their biggest punishment with an embarrassment on national television.
"That’s the thing about the guys around here," Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch said. "These coaches have been around a long time. They've seen a lot of stuff. It's either, you can come in here and jaw down on the guys, [but] you don’t know what may come of that. Who knows? I've been around a long time. I've seen both [methods], and I think the initiative that they took [Monday], it was a little different and I think the guys understood.
"Coach Belichick knew he didn’t need to come in and do all the fussing and cursing. Guys know that we played bad. Everybody knows that."
Cornerback Kyle Arrington said the film session "hurt a little bit," and they learned "a lot, unfortunately" due to the high volume of miscues. And again, the game tape that was right in front of their eyes was a strong enough message — one that didn’t need to be driven home by more yelling.
"They're aware we got our butts kicked pretty good enough [Sunday]," Arrington said. "They know how much work and effort we put in week in and week out. It's not going to be easy, and it's always going to be a dogfight. We just have to remember that going into each game."
If the Patriots suffered from a lack of focus last week, it sounds like that has already changed with Monday's intense day at the office.
"It's going to be a different team," Branch said. "I will tell you that right now. I promise you. It started today. It started today. We're expecting a totally different team."
Branch has been through plenty during his career, from the winning seasons in New England to the losing ways in Seattle, so he's seen teams bounce back in different ways after a number of unique scenarios.
Since it's one thing to talk about it being a different team, Branch was asked how he was shown already that this would be a different team. And the message, from the few players who spoke Monday, was convincing. It won't ease their pain of a blowout to the Browns, but that wakeup call might have been received by some very attentive ears.
"I think everybody took heed of what we were seeing, what we did in the game, and I think the most important thing is everybody looked at each other in that room before we walked out," Branch said. "You can see it in the guys' eyes. Nobody said anything. Everybody was real ticked off at their play. The coaches were very critical, and they should be. But they didn’t come down on guys because they know we're better than what we put out on the football field [Sunday]."
