Patriots Given Brutally Honest Assessment By Veteran

Patriots tight end Austin Hooper isn’t interested in making excuses, and wants the rest of the team to make avoid them, as well.

New England hasn’t been awful with the football thus far, but things certainly started trending in the wrong direction during Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans.

Drake Maye tripled the club’s interception total in his debut, and though part of that was due to one incredibly unlucky bounce, sloppiness did become more common with the rookie under center. Hooper contributed, fumbling the ball on his only reception of the game, and later responded to his costly turnover with a brutally honest message directed toward the rest of his team.

“It’s obviously not up to the standard, especially the standard that has been set around here,” Patriots tight end Austin Hooper said Thursday, per video provided by Zack Cox. “You have two options: you can either go in the tank, or you can confront the mistakes and tell the truth. I put a ball down and that hurt the team, so part of that loss is on me. We could have kept it close, and thank god the defense bailed me out where it only cost three points.

“It’s stuff like that, where you either take accountability, take the coaching, or you play the, ‘I did OK. I was doing –‘ No, no, no, there’s none of that. You win as a team, you lose as a team, that’s what makes this game so beautiful. It doesn’t matter, so the message is to turn the page, learn from the mistakes, accepting the good with the bad, taking accountability and moving forward.”

The Patriots would be wise to heed his message.

More Patriots: Four Wide Receivers Patriots Should Target Before NFL Trade Deadline