FOXBORO, Mass. – Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett doesn’t hold back.

New England suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, and the 32-year-old gave a pretty clear explanation as to why his club couldn't pull off a win.

“It was frustrating and honestly nothing was good,” Brissett said. “…We just have to play better. We're getting to the point where you just have to play better – penalties in the wrong situations, in bad situations – we're not good enough for that. “We have to go back and try to score points. We have to change that.

Brissett's argument was primarily about taking out offensive penalties, which was a big topic on Sunday. New England committed a total of 12 penalties for 105 yards, the most in a single game since 2022.

Alex Van Pelt also didn't do much to help put the offense in advantageous situations. The Patriots averaged 7.1 yards per carry through the first three quarters, but only ran the ball a total of 15 times in that span. Van Pelt insisted on throwing it, which allowed the Dolphins to get back into the game.

Brissett clearly had no intention of alienating his coordinator, so the next best thing was to improve the overall execution of the unit.

“We’re just shooting ourselves in the foot,” Brissett continued. “We take one step forward and then 20 steps back. We can't do that and until we get to that point we will continue to be frustrated by the little things… This league is already so tough.” “The margin for error is so small and if we can't do that because of a lack of focus and a lack of control “We’re not good enough for that yet.”

The Patriots actually aren't good enough. It's primarily up to Brissett and Van Pelt to change that.