The New England Patriots are torn between two worlds heading into their bye week. On the one hand, after playing football for 13 consecutive weeks, they need a break. On the other hand, they have considerable momentum riding an NFL-best 10-game winning streak.
Unsurprisingly, outside linebacker Klavon Chaisson called the bye week “weird” when he addressed the media in the Gillette Stadium locker room this week.
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“The bye week is always a little weird,” Chaisson said. Advertisement
To keep the Patriots going, their head coach made sure to set the right tone before the bye.
Even though his team is 11-2 and currently holds the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, Mike Vrabel has a clear message for his players. The season has just begun.
“We’re not done yet. We’re not satisfied yet,” Vrabel said. “I think a championship is never satisfied. You can appreciate where you are, but at the same time, never be satisfied or complacent. There’s a line between rest and recovery, and being sedentary. So, we have to do some things to get back here and understand that just because you have a bye, it doesn’t mean you’re guaranteed to get some wins next week in this league.
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“This year’s team is 16-12 after the bye, so obviously the bye doesn’t guarantee anything except that we should get some players back that we don’t have. [Monday night]we’ll see how it goes this week. Give them some time to reconnect with the people they care about and then get ready to focus on football and we’ll get this done. “
After saying goodbye, the Patriots will have one of the most important games of the past few seasons. The Buffalo Bills, who have won the AFC East the past five seasons, are visiting with a potential division title: If the Bills lose to the Cincinnati Bengals next weekend, New England will face a “hat and T-shirt game” next Sunday.
Regardless of the stakes, and regardless of the Bills’ record, any complacency leading into this game could be fatal. The locker room understands the message, too.
“You can’t not do anything football-related. That’s the most important thing,” Chaisson said of the farewell. “You’ve got to keep exercising, stay active, keep your joints and your body moving. Obviously use your downtime to prevent contact, give your joints a rest, whatever inflammation you have in your body, move to different parts of the area. But obviously, you’ve got to stick to some type of football, on your iPad and on your film study.”
