Rex Burkhead said his confidence has not wavered after the New England Patriots shocking, 27-24 defeat to the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium on Sunday. Burkhead said he knows what the group still has to offer, even though the Patriots offense got back to its inconsistent ways on Sunday and even though quarterback Tom Brady managed to complete just 16 passes.
“The confidence is never going to go away,” Burkhead said. “We know what we have, we know the talent — and talent can only take you so far— but we know what we have and we know what we’re capable of.
He added: “The guys on this team, a lot of them have been through it before. So, we just got to get that juice back and hopefully we have a good week of preparation this week.”
From an individual standpoint, Burkhead has been among the Patriots best offensive weapons in the previous two weeks. Following a career-high performance in receiving yards against the Bills, Burkhead ran for 48 yards on just six carries (6.0 yards per rush).
But it wasn’t enough to make up for the inconsistencies. The Patriots had merely one first down in the first quarter as they were outgunned 110-25 in total yardage.
“Execution,” Burkhead said. “We just have to execute better. A lot of little detail things that we can definitely clean up. (I’ll) start with myself, improve on things I can improve upon and if we can keep getting better and keep doing those things better every single day, we can put ourselves in better position.”
The Patriots finish the season 12-4 and will play in the AFC Wild Card game for the first time since 2009.
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