After a season-opening loss that was filled with some ups and downs, the Patriots were back to work on Monday, reviewing the film, making corrections and preparing to turn the page to their Week 2 matchup against the New York Jets.
"They made more plays than we did in those critical situations," said Ja'Whaun Bentley on Monday afternoon after assessing the damage. "They played well. We did some good things, we just didn't make enough plays to get it done."
Devin McCourty is in his 12th season with the team and has seen his share of losses in New England. McCourty knows what it will take to break into 2021's win column.
"Playing better situational football, not turning the ball over and penalties, that was the big takeaway," said McCourty of the key areas where the Patriots faltered. "That's why Bill's great, whether it's the first game or mid-season, his consistency with the football aspect of it and what we need to do to get better for me is always what I try to hear and what I try to focus on.
"It's game one, we've got time but the sense of urgency in this league has to happen right away because you can't just start falling behind and losing games."
One of the big positives from the game was the solid debut of Mac Jones at quarterback. The rookie looked comfortable, throwing for nearly 300 yards while completing nearly three-quarters of his passes.
It was a performance not lost on those charged with protecting him.
"I thought Mac showed a lot of mental toughness yesterday," said David Andrews during his media availability session. "Just throughout the game, he did some things really well. We've got to do a little better job protecting him at times, in my opinion, I think he took too many hits.
"I thought he showed some toughness standing in there making some big throws, taking hits and kept moving."
The Pats can forget about Miami until the season finale in four months, but for now, it's a familiar process -- eliminate the mistakes, build off the positives and once again, put everything they've got into this week's contest.
"I'm just excited to keep going," said Bentley. "We're not letting this one game define our entire season by any means. We're just learning from it and we're moving on and we're excited about our next game."
Twin rivalry renewed
Devin and Jason McCourty played the last three seasons playing with each other in New England but with Jason moving on to Miami this year it meant a divided McCourty household once again.
"My mom went with a split tee-shirt, she said it's too hot to make a jersey for when she goes to Miami," said Devin. "J wasn't too happy, all of the family had on Patriots gear except his wife and my mom so he wasn't too happy about that. It was awkward because of the time we spent the last three years and how much football we've talked over the last three years about how we play things and how we do things. It was great just watching him out there on the other side. It was different but it was a lot of fun seeing him out there competing I'm happy I don't have to play against my twin brother every week"
Report: Brown day-to-day
Good news for the Patriots was reported on Monday afternoon by Adam Schefter that Trent Brown suffered a minor calf strain and is considered day-to-day. Brown played just a handful of snaps against the Dolphins and his presence was missed as the team tried both Justin Herron and Yasir Durant in replacement of the giant offensive tackle. The team is scheduled to hold their first practice and release their first injury report on Wednesday.
