FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said he had a restless night’s sleep Sunday after an upset loss to the Miami Dolphins, pointing the finger at himself for a performance that he called below his standard.
“Yesterday, we had plays, I certainly did, that I should make. And I didn’t make them. That’s why you lose games,” Brady said in his weekly interview on sports radio WEEI.
“This week, it has to be more concentration, focus, determination, attitude. Everything has to be at its top, top, top this week. We have to get to a great place where we’re confident, trusting, and going out there and executing at our highest level. We can certainly execute a lot better than we did yesterday.”
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The Patriots’ loss cost them a first-round playoff bye for the first time since the 2009 season. They host the Tennessee Titans on Saturday night (8:15 p.m. ET, CBS). Caesars Sportsbook list the Patriots at 20-1 odds to win the Super Bowl, the team’s longest odds entering the playoffs during the Bill Belichick era.
“We had too many unforced errors, things that Miami didn’t even have to do to stop us. I think that’s when you know you’re disappointed in the way you played. It’s just self-inflicted errors,” said Brady, who finished 16-of-29 for 221 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception (his first pick-six since 2017). “I give them all the credit for winning, but there’s things we did that we shouldn’t do. We have to tighten those things up.”
The 42-year-old Brady said that starts with him, and that took a toll on him Sunday night.
“Just tossing and turning. Not much sleep. You just have a lot of emotion after the game. You hate to have nights like that, but you have to do something to change them,” he said in the radio interview. “It’s important for us to just realize our goals are ahead of us. We have to go out there and try to have our best week and figure out how to win a game.”
Brady was seen on the sideline shaking out his right arm at times, but insisted, “I don’t have any problems. I have no injuries. I’ve said it a lot. I feel good. There is no injury. No nothing. I wish I would have played better, and that’s about it.”
Because Brady is a free agent after the season for the first time in his career, Saturday’s game is unlike any he has played in his 20-year career in the sense that it could potentially be his last regular-season home game as a Patriot. He has repeatedly expressed his hopes to play until he is 45.
Fans have chanted his name regularly in recent years, which Brady was asked about in the radio interview.
“Every year that goes by, I feel like how privileged I am to still be doing what I love to do. Playing in front of the best fans in the country is just a great feeling for me,” he said.
Asked about his role as a leader in New England, Brady said, “I love being a part of the team. You try to do the best you can to help the team win. I’ve played with so many great teammates. It’s easy to be a great leader when you have great teammates. Our organization is filled with those.
“It’s been about winning. We have a great winning culture. From [owner Robert] Kraft, his contributions, and everything he does. Jonathan [Kraft], the role he plays. Coach Belichick, how he shows up with his consistency. Coaches, all the way down to the captains and players … it’s a great winning organization. This next week has to be about exactly that, getting the best out of everybody.”
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