Patriots Defender Notes How Group Did ‘Wonderful’ Things

FOXBORO, Mass. — While there is not one player in the Patriots locker room who doesn’t wish the group was still competing in the NFL postseason, New England defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. was able to reflect fondly on the 2022-23 campaign one day after it came to an end.

Wise, who experienced a career year in his sixth season with the Patriots, finished with career bests in sacks (7.5), tackles (59) and games played (16 starts in 17 games). But he was more focused on handing out praise to the group of teammates he played alongside with on the defensive side.

“We did a wonderful job this year,” Wise said Monday in the Patriots locker room after New England’s season-ending defeat against the Buffalo Bills.

“A lot of great plays had been made, a lot of firsts with Marcus Jones, (Kyle Dugger), myself, (Josh) Uche, (Matthew) Judon. We all did phenomenal work,” Wise continued. “And then collectively, we did great things — nine sacks in a game, three defensive touchdowns for one person (Dugger) — there’s a lot of accolades you could go down the whole list. If I name one, I’ll miss one. But we did wonderful, a lot of wonderful things.”

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The Patriots defense finished 11th in points allowed and eighth in yards allowed. New England also concluded with the second-most forced turnovers and no team allowed fewer rushing touchdowns than the Patriots. That sort of production has helped Wise and others look back on the season with some positivity, despite the fact the Patriots came up one win short of the postseason.

“We all just want to kind of sit back and just think about that, reflect on our season and just get ready for the offseason,” Wise said.

He added: “The atmosphere right now is a lot of gratitude, a lot of love being shared. We’re not really thinking about anything else besides the memories that we had throughout the season.”

The 8-9 Patriots finished with the ninth-best record in a seven-team AFC playoff picture. It marked the second time in three campaigns New England failed to qualify for the postseason.