Mac Jones sat facing his locker, his head covered, looking down in silence.

A few other Patriots were in the same pose.

The theme: “Just short,” Patriots center David Andrews said after Sunday night’s 24-17 loss to the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium.

And that’s the problem, it seems, with these New England Patriots, who start the year 0-2 for the first time under Bill Belichick since 2001.

But then Andrews hit on another very relevant issue: It’s a couple of weeks into the season, and we’re still waiting for the Patriots to play with a lead. They’ve trailed the entire way in eight quarters of football for the young 2023 season.

“That’s two weeks that we’ve had to play from behind,” Andrews said. “It’s hard to play catchup in this league. Perfection is an endless chase but you’ve got to strive for it.”

His coach, Bill Belichick agreed with his players who all say they have to work harder.

“You know, tough loss,” he said. “But you’ve got to learn from it. And, you know, just keep working harder and move on. So there’s really not too much to say.”

The latest shortfall came when tight end Mike Gisecki realized he wasn’t going to make first down, cornered at the Miami 34 on a fourth and 4 from the Dolphin 33. So he improvised, flipped the ball to offensive lineman Cole Strange who miraculously pushed his way 5 yards for what appeared to be a first down. But replay reversed it. Gulp.

“I caught the ball, came back to it, I was along (Miami’s) sideline, I heard people cheering that I was short, so I was like, I can’t go down with the ball. So I saw one of the biggest people on the field on our offense line, it ended up being Cole, so I threw it to him. I thought he had it, but we didn’t.”

Strange thought he had it too. So did Belichick, who, when asked, said sarcastically “Yeah you should talk to the officials. I’m sure they’ll do a pool report on that.”

“I caught it, ran it, and didn’t get it,” Strange said. “That’s kind of all there is too it.”

Gisecki showed his frustration after the play.

“There’s a lot of work that goes into these,” Gisecki said. “You only get 17 opportunities, and two of them are gone now. But also we’ve got 15 to go, and we’ve got a lot of football ahead of us.”

Gisecki was pressed about the chances of the Patriots turning it around after an 0-2 start, as they always say the odds are against those teams. But really, it shouldn’t be all doom and gloom, right? Unless the Patriots keep repeating the same things that have plagued them – slow starts, turnovers, missed tackles, etc. Things like a Dolphin running back, Raheem Mostert breaking through the line to run 43 yards untouched to the end zone with 8:45 to play to give Miami a commanding 24-10 lead.

What gives Gisecki that confidence?

“It’s September 17th,” he said. “The regular season doesn’t end til mid-January. That’s the absolute last thing on our mind. If you know anything about the guy that runs this organization (Belichick), he’s not letting us think about anything besides today. That’s all we’re focused on right now.”

Playing the Dolphins and their quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, can be frustrating. When he gets their offense moving, it can be like death by a thousand paper cuts. Short, crisp passes that just chew up yards. The Patriots blocked a field goal. They trailed 17-3 and turned things into a close game.

But the only real break they’ve gotten so far is that when they head to New York next weekend, they’ll be facing lousy QB Zach Wilson instead of Aaron Rodgers, who is in a dark chamber somewhere recovering from Achilles surgery.

Strange talked about how in a game you have to forget about previous plays.

“It’s kind of like that with the season,” he said. “Got to keep moving forward.”

Because the Patriots can’t afford for this season to be one in which they keep moving backward.

Tom King may be reached @Telegraph_TomK, or tking@nashuatelegraph.com

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