Patriots safety knows New England will face "tough" QBs in AFC East
The AFC East is arguably one of the toughest divisions in the NFL this season, and one New England Patriots defender isn't shying away from admitting the challenges that may lay ahead. Adrian Phillips spoke about the AFC East along with the rest of the American Football Conference, admitting that it will be a battle. […]
The AFC East is arguably one of the toughest divisions in the NFL this season, and one New England Patriots defender isn't shying away from admitting the challenges that may lay ahead.
Adrian Phillips spoke about the AFC East along with the rest of the American Football Conference, admitting that it will be a battle. However, he explained that Bill Belichick and the rest of the team are relying on their motto: "Do your job."
"It's going to be tough," Adrian Phillips said on NFL Total Access. "You know our division was already tough; Buffalo's been doing their thing, Josh Allen's been balling, you've got Mike McDaniel down in Miami dialing it up, and then you get Aaron Rodgers going to the Jets, like it's crazy."
"We're going in with the mindset that if we're just physical and if we do our job and if we win our 1-on-1 matchups and if we go out there and just play to the best of our abilities, we can rock with anybody," Phillips added. "So we're not too worried about it, we actually love it because we love competition, love going against the best, and if you make it out of that division, you're battle-tested."
New England will have to face off against Rodgers, Allen, and Tua Tagovailoa twice during the regular season, but also will meet many other talented quarterbacks in the AFC, including Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes in Week 15.
"You literally cannot take a week off. I mean this is the NFL anyways, you can get beat on any given Sunday, but in the AFC alone, we're just stacked," Phillips said. "If you look at our schedule this year, it's just stacked with a bunch of quarterbacks, a bunch of skill players who can take a slant for 80 yards. So we've got to make sure we're dialed in each and every week."
The Patriots currently have the worst odds in the AFC East, predicated to finish last in the conference. Yet, they are not letting that deter them, relying on third-year quarterback Mac Jones along with many valuable offseason additions.
“We know that Bill is a master game-planner,” Phillips said, “along with (Jerod) Mayo, Steve (Belichick) and the rest of the defensive staff. When we get into the week after week stuff, that’s when we’ll really start talking about those guys. But in the locker room, we just already know that we’re going against monsters and it’s going to be fun.”
However, when asked about their own quarterback situation, Phillips wasn't willing to give anything away.
"Man, you're trying to get me in trouble," Phillips said. "One thing I'll say, and pretty much the only thing I'll say is that I'm not in the meetings with them, so I don't know what's going on over there, but I will say that Mac is competing, all those guys are competing, and we're going to ride with whoever's out there. That's a decision that's up to (coach) Bill (Belichick) and those guys on offensive side, but we're rocking with [Jones] either way and we're just kind of worried about the defensive side."
Seems like there is only room to go up, so the Patriots will look to improve and finish at the top of the league.
Featured Image via Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports
