It's no secret that the last few seasons have not been easy for the New England Patriots. 

Since Tom Brady left the Patriots in 2020, New England has suffered a playoff drought, either not making it or being unable to advance past the wild card round.

And three Patriots captains who have been on the winning side of things are ready to put these struggles in the past. 

“Obviously we’ve gone through a seismic change and that’s no mystery to anyone,” Matthew Slater said on Tuesday. “I think the last few years have been a time of equipping us, learning through some low points, and hopefully on the other side of it, we gain the things that we’ve lacked and we come out better on the other side.”

“The expectation here is for us to be winners and to be competitive every year. And for those of us who’ve been here for any number of time, we have not enjoyed the past couple of seasons. It hasn’t been fun for us,” Slater added. “Football is a lot more fun when you’re winning and that’s no mystery. Everybody in that locker room wants to win.”

Fellow captain David Andrews echoed Slater's sentiments. 

“We’re competitive,” Andrews said. “You don’t want to be sitting there watching people win. You don’t want to go in here on Sunday and have to deal with losing. At the end of the day, you play the game to win, and if you don’t, it’s not fun. Winning is fun. That’s what makes this game fun. So that’s what we’re going to try to do. That’s what you do all this for. That’s what you work all year for.”

After Brady left to join the Buccaneers, the Patriots brought in Cam Newton, but it became clear that he wasn't the solution. New England finished with a 7-9 record, drafting Mac Jones during the offseason who competed and beat out Newton for the starting job the following season. 

In Jones' rookie season, the Patriots ended with a 10-7 regular season record, making the playoffs. Yet, they fell to the Buffalo Bills, 47-17, in the wild card round. 

And then most people know what happened last season, as the experiment with Matt Patricia and Joe Judge being in charge clearly didn't work. Jones took a serious step back, and the Patriots once again finished with a 7-9 record. 

However, that is now in the past. 

“It’s important for us to not necessarily hold on to what’s been done in the past and not look too far future,” Ja'Whaun Bentley said. We just gotta make sure we’re ready for the first training camp practice. So that’s the main thing for us.”

The AFC East is a tough division this season, and the Patriots are definitely the underdogs. Yet, that just gives them more motivation. 

“Everybody in the league wants to win, but everybody’s not willing to do what it takes. So we’ve got to find ways to do the little things that are going to give us an opportunity to be competitive on game days,” Slater said. “It’s so hard to win in this league and I think we’ve got to do everything within our power to give ourselves a chance to be competitive. And not to say that we haven’t been trying to do that but we’ve got to do it with more consistency. We’ve got to do it at a higher level.”

Featured Image via Sophie Weller – A to Z Sports