Patriots running back Ezekiell Elliott says he wants to keep playing, chasing both a championship and Hall of Fame induction. (AP photo)

He’s made his stand.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, in his end-of-season video teleconference early Monday morning, said that right now he’s moving ahead with his 2023 season evaluations, but said after a 4-13 years, “Obviously, things need to be fixed.”

“So, I’m under contract,” Belichick said, “do what I always do, which is every day I come in and work as hard as I can to help the team in whatever way I can. So that’s what I’m going to continue to do.”

Belichick declined to say when he’s meeting with team owner Robert Kraft and that “it might be a series of meetings. I don’t know. We’ll deal with that internally.”

And, in terms of possibley giving up power over personnel, Belichick said, “I’m for whatever, collectively, we decide as an organization is the best thing to help our football team.”

WHAT OF ANDREWS?

It’s expected that Patriots special teams player Matthew Slater played not only his last game in a Patriot uniform but his last game period on Sunday.

But what about David Andrews? The center and like Slater, a team captain, was very emotional after the game.

“I don’t know, I think I still have something left in the tank,” Andrews said. “I’m tired, sore, it’s been a long year. I’m going to go back to Georgia, sit on my tractor with my son, take him deer hunting, get back to work and see where it goes from there.”

Andrews played every snap this season. “You start something, you’re going to try to finish it,” he said.

As for Slater, players knowing it was likely his last game came out for warmups wearing sweatshirts with his No. 18 and the word “Captain” on them.

“You know, it meant a lot,” said Slater, who added making his future public would be for a later time. “It meant a lot. I was blown away by it. I never wanted anything about my experience here to be about me, so it did make me a little bit uncomfortable.

“But to have the guys do that, I just – I’ll never be able to put that into words as long as I live. So it meant a lot to me.”

ELLIOTT’S FUTURE

Patriots running back Ezekiel Elliott, who signed a one-year deal with the team during training camp, said he wants to keep playing.

“I love this sport,” the former longtime Cowboy said. “I love playing football. I want to do this as long as I can. I’m going to do everything I can to be able to do that.

“Obviously the big goal for me is, I want to get a Gold Jacket (Hall of Fame), so I’ve got to continue to play. I have to find a way to get a championship and help that resume.”

MAC JONES EMERGENCY THIRD QB

Mac Jones began the season on Sept. 10 as the Patriots starting quarterback. But in a forgettable stretch since then, he ended it Sunday as the team’s emergency third QB. In other words, a healthy scratch.

That meant Nathan Rourke was the Patriots backup QB on Sunday, and would have played if anything happened to starter Bailey Zappe. Patriots coach Bill Belichick was asked if that meant Rourke out-performed Jones in practice this past week.

“Nathan had a good week of practice,” he said. “You know, we activated him for the second spot.”

A reason Jones may have been inactive was that the team wanted to keep him healthy so he has trade value in the off-season.

PATRIOTS WILL PICK NO. 3

The Patriots had a chance to get the second pick in this April’s NFL Draft with their loss Sunday, but they will pick third instead thanks to the Cowboys win over Washington.

Instead it’s the Commanders who grab the second slot, which means they can grab either of the top two quarterbacks on everybody’s list – USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye.

It’s the highest pick the Patriots have had since they picked sixth in 2021. They used that choice to grab a defensive lineman say Richard Seymour. You can check out information on him at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The last time they had a pick in the top three was when they chose Drew Bledsoe with the No. 1 pick in 1993.

PATRIOTS OPPONENTS SET

With the NFL’s scheduling formula, the Patriots’ opponents for the 2024 season are now set as far as home and away. All that remains is for the dates, etc. and that won’t happen until likely in May when the NFL schedule is usually announced.

The home opponents: Texans, Colts, Rams, Seahawks, Chargers, Bills, Dolphins, Jets.

The road opponents: Bengals, Bears, Titans, 49ers, Jaguars, Cardinals, Bills, Dolphins, Jets.

Their inter-conference games as you can see are with the NFC West. They also have nine road games vs. eight home games; this year it was the reverse but one of those home games was vs. the Colts in Germany.

FINAL THOUGHTS?

Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who is said to be meeting with owner Robert Kraft today to discuss his future, will hold a season-ending video conference with the media at 7:30 a.m. Players will be available (or at least the locker room is open) from 8:15 to 9 a.m.for the final time this season.

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