Patriots Unanimously Stressing One Thing Entering Raiders Matchup

FOXBORO, Mass. — The Patriots haven’t exactly had a banner start to the season.

In fact, they’ve fallen to 1-4 and suffered two of the worst losses of Bill Belichick’s tenure in back-to-back weeks. As you could imagine, it would be easy for them to fall into a sense of self-loathing during arguably their worst stretch in two decades.

That’s something they’re trying to avoid.

The Patriots sent five players to the podium Wednesday, giving the team a chance to respond to that horrific stretch. It also presented reporters with an opportunity to ask about the stretch, as well as New England’s upcoming matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders.

In a (perhaps encouraging) sign of unity, each man made sure to mention one thing: positivity.

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“There’s an old adage, ‘It’s never as good as it seems. It’s never as bad as it seems,’ ” David Andrews said prior to Wednesday’s practice. “You go in and watch the film, there was a lot of bad and there’s not a lot of good when you aren’t scoring any points, but you gotta take the good and try to build on it.”

“We’re not where we want to be,” Hunter Henry echoed. ” … It hasn’t been good enough, but we’ve got more football and that’s the positive thing. … We just gotta get things rolling, get some positivity, get some things moving in the right direction.”

The Patriots did get some positivity Wednesday, as starting guard Michael Onwenu returned to practice after suffering an ankle injury in Week 5 against the New Orleans Saints.

In all, there’s been a noticeable air of positivity in the locker room.

“I think guys are positive,” Ezekiel Elliott said following practice. “I think we know what we need to do. We’re putting in work, we’ve got the right attitude and that’s all we can do. All we can do is put in the work and go out there and play better.”

In no surprise, it all starts with the man under center (for now).

“I really look at the positive things,” Mac Jones said. “What have I done well as a quarterback, in college, here, or whatever? I haven’t been consistent enough, so really focus on the positives.”