FOXBOROUGH -- Last Saturday's game against the Bills was the most important game of the season for the Patriots, as the AFC East title was on the line.
It had a different feel throughout the course of the week with a very serious approach, and that carried over to just before the game on Saturday.
Tom Brady gave a pregame speech inside the Patriots locker room, which is something he doesn't take lightly and isn't something he does all the time.
"I would say a lot of guys talk at different times. I have been around a little bit, so I kind of pick my spots because if you speak too much then it loses a little of its — I just try and pick the right time to express the things that are important, that I feel are important," Brady said Friday. "Everyone does that. We have coaches that do that. As a veteran player, as a captain, that is good knowledge for me to share. That is going out there and understanding what is at stake.
"I think everybody puts a lot aside. I think we all have jobs, and I have a lot of grown up issues — you deal with kids, family and life things. A lot of younger guys don't. That's just the reality. When you're an older player you don't take those things for granted because you realize the things you're putting off are very important and things you can't get back. The longer you do it you try and express to them that these are important things and if it is important for me to sacrifice for them, they have to do the same. That is the reality of football. It takes on part of your life because you play for a long period of time during the season. The games are scheduled every Sunday, so they take precedent over basically everything else. It's a lot of important things we're doing and I try and do the right thing."
The Patriots came away with a 24-17 win to clinch their 11th straight AFC East title.
"It was a big game," rookie wide receiver Jakobi Meyers said. "(Brady is) a winner at heart in games like that as we get towards the end of the season, you'll hear it come out."
Brady had one of his better games of the year, completing 79 percent of his passes for 271 yards and a touchdown.
The quarterback will play in even bigger games in the coming weeks with a chance to clinch a first-round bye against Miami this Sunday and then the playoffs after that.
