Short-term memory is key for Pats

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It’s called short-term memory loss. The New England Patriots may not feel they have to forgive, but the command is definitely that they have to forget.

Yes, purchase a bunch of rearview mirrors to put the frustration of head coach Bill Belichick’s fourth-down call on Sunday night behind them, and move ahead to this Sunday’s AFC East rematch with the New York Jets.

In the locker room on Wednesday, the majority of the players’ first media appearance since Sunday night, they sounded pretty convincing that they can achieve that case of amnesia.

“We’re going to do the same thing we’ve done for the last four years that I’ve been here,” said Patriots linebacker Junior Seau, who is a locker room leader despite not taking a snap the last two weeks. “And that’s basically you need to have a short-term memory. Good and bad. When we’re winning, and we do win, we just pack our bags and go home (on Sunday), the (next) work day is Wednesday and we’ll attack it when it gets there. And today’s a work day.

“You can’t (rehash) it. One thing we’re going to preach here is we’re not going to (rehash) the negative, and we’re not going to (rehash) the positive. Whatever’s in the past is in the past. We have challenges every day. Today’s challenge is basically to be the best team we can be today, to get ready for the (Jets) game.”

Still, the questions persist. Safety Brandon McGowan was asked about the defense’s reaction to Belichick’s call.

“There was no reaction,” he said. “Trying to make the team win. He made a call and that’s what we’ve got to live with. (It’s) like every other week. We’ve got to get ready for the Jets. Just come in every week, and get prepared for the next game. It’s very disappointing. Can’t do anything about it now. The game is behind us, in the past, got to look forward and get prepared for the Jets.”

Interestingly enough, Belichick didn’t dismiss perhaps mentioning his decision to the players in his usual Wednesday morning talk to the team, in the wake of the fact the players had Monday and Tuesday off.

“When I talk to the team, I address whatever I feel is pertinent and important to the team, whatever those things are,” he said. “It could be a collection of things. It’s certainly about what’s ahead, and what we’re going to do (on Wednesday) and what I feel like what the goals for the team need to be on a short-term basis – in the next few hours and the next day – with whatever our next target is, in this case it being the Jets.”

Belichick was asked about the emotional toll and if he addresses that.

“I think you talk about what the current situation is,” he said. “Today is Wednesday, we talk about Wednesday. We weren’t in Monday and Tuesday, then we talk about Sunday and some of the things that led up to that.

“But the most important thing we talk about is what is going to happen in the next few hours, between eight o’clock and when we get done later in the afternoon. The eight-hour period, right now, that’s the most important hours of our lives for our football team.”

McGowan was asked if the loss Sunday can motivate the Patriots to go forward.

“A little bit, yeah,” he said. “Nothing new for us. You prepare the same every week. This week, nothing different.”

Except for the questions.

Pats quarterback Tom Brady was mobbed at his locker on Wednesday, and of course was asked about the lingering effects of Belichick’s decision and the criticism that followed.

“You don’t take anything personally,” Brady said. “It’s nothing about our personality. When you lose, you place the blame in certain areas. We all know in here not one person is to blame. It’s unfair when a group of 53 players that we have and all the coaches in here that one person gets the blame. We all share in the disappointment and frustration.

“We’ve got to be better and we’ve got to move forward. We’ve lost games around here before. But we’ve got to be professional and move forward. I’m worried about the Jets. I’ve talked about the Colts game, and I think we’ve got to move forward, and understand that we’re playing a great opponent (the 4-5 Jets), one that really gave our offense a hard time the last time we played them. … Our focus is – it’s already Wednesday. Really, that (Indy) game can’t help us at all moving forward. It doesn’t do us a whole lot of good thinking about it or talking about it. We’ve got to go worry about the Jets.”

Brady says the loss to Indy and even the loss to the Jets really don’t provide extra motivation. It’s business as usual.

“It’s kind of the same for us every week,” he said. “We put a lot into every week. There’s not a lot extra in the tank each week. Whatever we have in the tank gets left there out on the field. It gets drained after one week and then you’ve got to go back out the next week, and that’s what we’re doing.”

Pats cornerback Jonathan Wilhite, one of the members of the secondary beaten on Reggie Wayne’s game-winning catch, says there’s too much work this week to worry about what happened.

“I mean, I have a load this week, too,” he said. “Not just me, the whole defense. Every week we have something to prove. Moving on is important. You feel sour, but you have to move on. It’s football.”

And if they can’t, the Patriots have some elder statesmen to remind them.

“We’ve won so many games in this locker room,” Seau said. “We’re quick to turn it off and turn it back on. And right now, what we need to do again, we need to have a short-term memory. That’s the only reason you’re going to be able to succeed in this league. You have a short-term memory whether it’s good or bad, and go to work the next day.

“And that’s what we’re going to do.”