FOXBORO - There's not a lot of, "Well, we'll get 'em next time..." attitude around the Patriots.
When they lose, they seem to spend an inordinate amount of time with that game's little black box, trying to suss out what happened.
And the game doesn't get filed until it's been fully digested.
"I don't think you ever get over any loss you ever have," Tom Brady said Wednesday morning. "I probably remember every single one."
That might be possible seeing as he's only quarterbacked the Patriots to 39 of them in his 13 regular seasons in the league. Still, he's been through enough of them to know how the process is supposed to work.
"Part of being mentally tough is to move forward and learn from your mistakes, understand what you need to do better," Brady explained. "That's what the last two days have been about as well as getting ready for Jacksonville. They've been very competitive in a bunch of games this year. I know they haven't won 'em all -- down to the wire against a great team like Houston at Houston -- they're capable of anything."
Capable? Yes. On the cusp of? No. The Jags have won twice this season. They are 14.5 point underdogs and that might be a bit light. But Brady insists the stamp has not yet been affixed to the envelope down there (that's a "mail-it-in" device...probably didn't work).
New England Patriots
"They play hard, I'll tell you that," cautioned Brady. "There's nobody on that team that's not playing and giving everything they got. They rush hard, they try to be real physical. They do some things well. Coach talked about focusing on what we need to do and getting better as a team and our execution needs to be better and that's what its gotta be this week of practice and carrying all through the game."
With the playoffs looming and the machinations in play to determine who the Patriots will play and where, Brady said that is not their concern.
"Were just trying to go out and win," he offered. "I think thats the most important thing for us to do: win a game. Whatever happens down the road, happens. In order to accomplish our goal, you have to win every week. Were trying to win every week. That's what were trying to do. We were trying to win last week. Were trying to win this week. That's the only thing that were really playing for."
The toe stub Sunday lingers, said Brady. But there is something that can be done about it.
"When you lose it sucks, there's no question about it," the quarterback stated. "It's no fun for anybody and it makes for a long week and makes for long seasons when you lose. But part of the mental toughness we need to have is moving on and understanding why we lose games and why we win games and what we need to do better the next week."