FOXBOROUGH — Nine games into a seesaw season that is trying them, their patience, and their togetherness, the Mike Vrabel Patriots know the truth. Last season was a quick fix, not a final one.
A season removed from a remarkable turnaround culminating in an unforeseen Super Bowl appearance, the Vrabel Vibes and Patriots pixie dust have dried up. Sitting at 5-4 heading into a pivotal matchup in Munich with the Lions, the Patriots are finding out the hard way that football’s Rome can’t be rebuilt in a day. A sustainable NFL contender isn’t constructed in one season, no matter how magical.
Year 2 of Vrabel’s program resembles a sophomore slump, a sobering reminder that they still have the “pardon our appearance” signs up as Vrabel molds the roster and the culture to his desired specifications. The project was ahead of schedule last season, but it’s incomplete. We’re starting to see some cracks in the framework with repeat mistakes on the field and comments off it alluding to the commitment level in the locker room.
The vibes — and the results — are off. The Patriots present as a team on edge, a team on the verge of frustration and finger-pointing. However, as wide receiver Mack Hollins, one of the chief culture carriers and the voice of choice comments following the Packers loss, said Wednesday, “Winning has a way of solving any issues you have.”
Hollins added, “But, also, usually when you win, you’re executing. You’re doing the things you’re supposed to do. You’re doing the things you’ve done on the practice field. Everybody is executing at a level that they want to be at.”
Both the execution and esprit de corps aren’t where they need to be right now.
The sojourn to Germany looms as either a restorative bonding exercise or a breaking point for a team that is tied for the NFL lead in turnovers (19) and mass-producing slow starts.
“I have complete faith in this team, and we’re at a point where you can either crumble now, or you can smile in the face of adversity,” said linebacker and captain Robert Spillane. “That comes from a great coach that I used to work with, Mike Tomlin, who [said,] ‘When the thickness gets thick, that’s when you see who’s really made of what sort of stuff.’ ”
The hope is the Patriots are made of more than beating up on Bavarian cream-like teams, that they’ll go abroad and upend a Detroit team with an efficient and proficient offense tied for second in the NFL in fewest turnovers and ranked second in scoring drive efficiency (50 percent), but a defense shakier than a doctor’s cursive.
Then they use their bye like an NBA gather step to load up and propel themselves to an emphatic finish.
There are many elements the Patriots have been forced to reevaluate after getting wiped out 45-27 by Green Bay in a faith-shaking loss at Gillette Stadium: operational, technical, strategical, and physiological (the rash of injuries claiming running back Rhamondre Stevenson). But the biggest adjustment needs to be psychological. They don’t have winning all figured out. They’re in the crosshairs now. They’re now the team that other teams can prove something against.
“We got a target on our back. We won the AFC, played in the Super Bowl … so everybody’s coming after us, and we got to respond,” said quarterback Drake Maye, responsible for three three-turnover games this season.
That’s a hard lesson that the 2002 Patriots learned after a Cinderella Super Bowl. The next year the team went 9-7 and missed the playoffs. That’s Bill Belichick-Tom Brady history that this team doesn’t want to repeat.
“We just didn’t realize how much we had to turn it up to the next level to win consistently,” recalled Troy Brown, the top receiver for both the ’02 and ’03 teams.
Belichick famously said that it wasn’t until 2003, his fourth year in Foxborough, that he felt like he had his program fully in place. So, it’s logical that these Patriots are experiencing growing pains. Vrabel admitted earlier this season that it’s not always going to be culture catchphrases — cue “Warriors” — and good times.
Vrabel complimented Lions coach Dan Campbell for his program, but didn’t want to get into a big-picture read on his own when asked, fixated on what his team must do this Sunday.
But Vrabel’s aggravation is starting to show. Old No. 50’s fuse is lit. His response to a question about whether he had to explain himself to the players regarding a comment during his weekly WEEI radio interview where he said, “We want a bunch of guys that want to be here,” — which followed comments after Sunday’s loss about putting “48 guys out there that care” — was blunt.
“I tried to explain that that wasn’t an accusation, and if somebody took it like that, then it’s probably who we were talking to,” he said.
Ouch.
Last year’s Patriots identity looks like a Potemkin village version. It’s the equivalent of a Hollywood movie set house — the convincing facade of a fully formed house, but when you step inside it’s not a fully functional structure.
Hollins compared it more to maintenance when asked if the Patriots possessed the desired identity.
“Yeah, for sure. … It’s like any skill — once you stop wanting to get better at it, you lost it.”
The Patriots want their players to be the answer. But they’re still searching for them in Year 2 of the Vrabel era.
Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at christopher.gasper@globe.com. Follow him @cgasper and on Instagram @cgaspersports.