Miami Dolphins 33, New England Patriots, 24
MATTHEW SLATER: So we'll have to dig deep and make a decision what does this mean to us. And I believe it's important to us. I believe we care about it. But the talking is not what's going to get it done. It's going to be execution and playing well whenever we play next.
Q. Do you think that's an issue that guys maybe don't want it?
MATTHEW SLATER: No. No. I'm not implying anything. I'm just saying.
Q. That slow start is something that Coach mentioned this week. He said it popped up at different times over the course of this season. Anything you can put your finger on that as to why that keeps popping up?
MATTHEW SLATER: I don't know. I think it's a number of things. I mean, certainly whether it's energy, focus, execution, you name it. We're not doing anything well enough early in the games to give ourselves a chance to get in a rhythm and remain competitive early on.
And, obviously, it's tough playing from behind. And now the next team we play will be the best team we've seen all year. So if we do that, if we play like that, it will be really challenging for us.
Q. And those games with the bad starts, whether it was today, Buffalo or Indianapolis, you guys still fought the second half, even in the losses, those three losses. Do you take anything away in the way you sort of rallied to get back in the game?
MATTHEW SLATER: I think it says a lot about our character. We're not going to quit. You know as well as I do, this time of the year, going out there and competing until the end doesn't mean anything if you don't have more points than the other team.
So we've taken some solace and some competitive efforts early on, but at this time of the year, all you care about is winning.
Q. The last part of the game there are crazy things. Why do crazy things always seem to happen?
MATTHEW SLATER: I mean, I don't know. I can't put my finger on it. I don't know. But we've got to flush it, and we've got to move on to next week.
Q. Matthew, is playing from behind particularly hard when you're asking a rookie quarterback to lead you guys?
MATTHEW SLATER: It's hard for anyone. Certainly, we don't want to put the offense and Mac in that position. But it doesn't matter if you got a quarterback that's been playing 30 years. You could have Dan Marino out there. It's still going to be tough for you to come back from 17 points on anyone.
Q. The illegal formation call on the punt, how disappointing was that?
MATTHEW SLATER: I mean, it's -- you make it so hard on the defense. They get a stop, we're getting the ball back. We go from that to giving the ball and then them taking more time off the clock and kicking a field goal. And we end up losing by a field goal. So stuff like that just kills you. It's disappointing, but we've got to get it fixed. We can't have that stuff keep happening.
Q. Is this as surprising as it is disappointing to you?
MATTHEW SLATER: I wouldn't say surprising. It's National Football League. Any team can beat any team. I always tell my 6-year-old, I say, any team can beat any team, son.
I'm not surprised. It's more disappointing that we went out and started the game as poorly as we did and then, you know, just ran out of time at the end.
Q. Like you said, you've got to flush it, right, because as the leader of this football team, you can't be too far down?
MATTHEW SLATER: It's over with. We better leave this game here in my Miami, better leave it here.
I mean, look, it's real now. We've got to go. So however sorry we feel for ourselves or however down we are about today's game, we've got to leave it here.
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FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports