What the Patriot Should Say

The New England Patriot players and coaches, that is, on the possibility of going 19-0:

"Asking us to comment on going undefeated is like asking a pitcher about a perfect game after six innings. His focus isn't on the last out of the game, but on the next out, and our focus in on the next game, not 19-0.

That said, yes, we are thinking about it and we would like to do it. But look, if we were to lose any games this year, we would rather they be in December than in January or February. So if we get home-field advantage locked up with a game or two to go, and we have some injured players, our priority is to make sure they're 100% healthy for the play-offs and we wouldn't rush them back just to try to go undefeated. But on the other hand, we won't sit any healthy starters in regular season games. We will give every effort to win those games, and then we will have a bye week to rest. If the starters sit during the remaining regular-season games, we could lose our rhythm and momentum in the play-offs. And if we were 12-1 instead of 13-0 right now that would still be our attitude. Even if home-field is locked up, we will still play hard and still try to win the game, because if we don't we will get sloppy and lose in the play-offs.

Our goal right now is to secure home-field advantage. If we do that tomorrow, we will focus on winning the next week, and after that, we will focus on winning the last game. And then we will focus on the play-offs."