Suddenly, the Pats find themselves as underdogs starting a new chapter in their history without their two longest-tenured players.
Slater said it’ll take things like selflessness, hard work and “doing what’s best for the football team.” He wants to see his teammates help one another and realize that they need to come into this season without expectations. The Patriots, he said, have to continue to operate, prepare, practice and get ready like they have every season that Brady was at the helm.
“Over the last 20 years a big part of our identity has been centered around Tom and what he’s done for us, but again, players come and go,” Slater said. “At some point in time you have to have pillars you stand upon that are not going to fall regardless of who’s in or out. I think we have good pillars in place.”
Part of Slater’s hope is that players who need to step up to lead will. He admits that there will be a big void in the locker room without players like Brady and Gostkowski. He knows there will be a huge hole on offense to fill. It’s uncertain how the Pats will fill those big losses, but Slater says he’s embracing the challenge.
“I don’t think the goals change at all. The standard doesn’t change at all. The pillars that we stand upon, they don’t change at all,” Slater said. “I think if you go into the season with a defeatist mindset, then you can’t expect to be successful. We’re not the victims here. We have a great opportunity. We have a lot of good football players. We have a tremendous coaching staff...
“We have to go into the season expecting more from ourselves than anyone outside of the building expects from us. We have to go in with the same drive, the same focus, the same determination and if we don’t, we shouldn’t even step foot in the building because we already will be beat.”
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