By Rich Levine
CSNNE.com
FOXBORONot that you expected much in the way of bitching, moaning or detailed self-reflection in the wake of Sunday's loss, but Monday afternoon at Gillette, the Patriots were predictably tight-lipped surrounding the details of their defeat, and ready to focus on this week's opponent: The Buffalo Bills.
"Any time you lose, you're upset," said safety Brandon Meriweather, one of the few players to speak during Monday's locker-room access, "but I've always been told that you have to have a short memory. You can't let things linger on. Last night wasn't my night to moan and get all the thinking about the Jets out. So now I'm thinking about Buffalo."
Julian Edelman's words carried a similar tone:
"We have to put that game behind us. We've got to have a short memory. That's what we have to preach to our guys right now, and that's what we're doing. We have to take that film we just watched and take all the bad things and learn form them, fix them this week and prepare for the Bills."
Fair enough. But what specifically went wrong on Sunday? What are those things that the Patriots need to improve upon?
"After watching the tape there's obviously a lot of things we need to do better and think we can do better," said Bill Belichick. "We just have to get back to work this week and get ready for Buffalo and get some things straight on or end. It's pretty much across the board: Offense, defense and special teams. You name it."
While the Pats certainly made their fair share of first-half mistakes, it's the latter half that's come into question. It was over the final 30 minutes where the Jets officially took control of the action, caught the Pats off guard and had them scrambling (in vain) to make the proper adjustments. It's those adjustments (or lack thereof), which has New England buzzing on Monday, but the team stopped short of citing any specific Jets moves as the reason for their triumph.
New England Patriots
"Nah, I don't think they made many adjustments," Meriweather said. "They came out and pretty much did the same things. Maybe threw one or two wrinkles in there, but other than that they pretty much did the same thing. They just made the plays when they counted."
"I didn't really pay attention to their adjustments," said Fred Taylor, who had five carries for 11 yards, all in the first half. "I was just paying attention to what we were trying to do throughout the course of the game. And every time we kind of started out or whatever, I think those are things I pay most attention to. They did whatever was necessary to win the game."
And that was that. Sunday's loss can still be felt throughout New England on Monday, but their team is ready to move on.
Although Taylor admitted that no matter what anyone says, the team won't soon forget the feeling of walking off the Meadowlands in defeat.
"The Jets will definitely be in the back of our mind somewhere," he said. "If a guy says that it isn't he'd be lying to you. It's just human nature. Especially if you get beat up by somebody. You remember it."
Rich can be reached at rlevine@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Rich on Twitter at http:twitter.comrlevine33