O’Brien On Patriots’ 2023 Offense: “We’re in it Together”

Ian Logue

2 weeks ago at 11:19 am ET

Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

Offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien met with the media on Tuesday, talking about a variety of topics coming off this weekend’s loss after the New England Patriots fell short 25-20 against the Eagles on Sunday.

While the outcome was disappointing, O’Brien believes there are still plenty of positives to take away that go beyond the final score. One of the things he mentioned was how pleased he’s been with the fact everyone is on the same page, and he believes that given what he’s seen so far, they’re definitely heading in the right direction.

“I think that’s one of the really good things about this football team as we sit here today,” said O’Brien. “This is a team that’s very together and we all realize that we’re in it together. That the coaches are working hard to improve, the players are working really hard to improve, and like I’ve said from day one, it’s really a fun group to coach, and we all want to get on the right track, and we’re working very hard to do that, and we’re doing it together.”

As they do every Monday, part of their process is to sit down together and look at the film, which the Patriots obviously did coming off the loss to Philadelphia. O’Brien said that time is always important as they look to make corrections, which there were certainly some mistakes that will need to be corrected as the team begins to turn the page and gets to work on the Dolphins this morning.

The Patriots offensive coordinator called this week’s earlier film session a productive one, with the overall communication being part of what he said was “a really good process” as they broke down what went wrong Sunday.

“That’s something that we really look forward to,” said O’Brien on that process. “Obviously, losing is unacceptable, and we have to change that, and we have to get back to being on the right side of the score. But at the end of the day, when we all come together and watch the tape as a unit, that’s a really good process that’s always been the process here.”

“I think Monday was a really good day. We were able to get some things corrected. We were able to watch it together, and I think it was a really productive day. We have a lot of smart players in the room. There’s really good communication between the coaches and the players, and I think that will be a really good start to this week.”

That was the theme for much of his press conference, as he continued using the word “together” frequently when talking about this year’s group.

The fact they’re united and not quietly frustrated with how things are going is already a big improvement coming off of how things were at the beginning of 2022.

That in and of itself, along with how much sharper they were overall this past weekend, is definitely a good sign coming off a tough loss. And it should certainly have fans feeling pretty optimistic heading into Sunday’s match-up against Miami.

(Editor’s note: Portions of the above appeared in this morning’s news and notes column.)