Image courtesy of The Herald Journal 

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – The Patriots locker room was jubilant in New Jersey on Sunday and rightfully so.

But, not too jubilant.

The Pats hammered the Jets 42-10, completing a rare unbeaten road late (8-0) and clinching an AFC East title a few hours later when the Bills failed two complete a two-point pass, losing to Philadelphia.

While there was certainly reason to celebrate, it was clear that this team is all about improvement.

All season long, Mike Vrabel has made sure his team enjoys its victories, but keeps an eye on what’s ahead and how they can get better. While sitting at his locker postgame, I asked Jaylinn Hawkins what it’s like being 13-3 while knowing this team can still get so much better.

“There’s a lot,” Hawkins said before I could even finish the question. “Man, you always want to get to that next level. With the good or the bad, you always want to stay even keel and no matter what, you always work to get there. First and foremost, I always want to give all glory to God. God has blessed this team, this staff, the players and me. I want to give him the glory first and foremost.

“For the most part, it feels good that we’ve got a lot of work to do and we’re going to get better. We’ve got to keep going. That’s it. One day at a time.”

K’Lavon Chaisson has been one of the key additions to the culture change – both on and off the field – and he too echoed many of the same sentiments Hawkins did when I asked him something similar.

“I think the world knows it too,” he said. “Most importantly, I think we know it. There’s a lot we want to clean up. There’s still some bodies we need to get back healthy. Obviously, the winning is going to continue building the confidence and up the play of everyone in this locker room. We’ll continue to look at the film, we’ll dial in and understand that this is a copy cat league.

“Going into this weekend, Miami’s going to try to throw some things that worked today or last week (vs. Baltimore), what have you, but it’s a good opportunity for sure for us to just keep getting better.”

Of course, life is also a lot easier as a defensive player when Drake Maye is doing what he is. I asked both Hawkins and Chaisson how the defense feeds off what he and the rest of the offense is doing this season, particularly the show they put on down in New Jersey on Sunday.

“It’s huge, man,” Chaisson said. “And it starts when we’re on the sidelines. Like, when we hear ‘punt team get ready’, we (the defense) will be slow to get up off the bench because it’s Drake and he’s probably going to convert a first down. Drake’s been phenomenal and gives us a ton of confidence, especially when we get leads like this, knowing that teams can’t do nothing but start throwing the ball. They have to kind of get into the drop-back game which feeds into our favor. When the offense is going like they were today, we tell them ‘don’t even get comfortable’ because we’re trying to get them the ball right back.”

“He’s a dangerous man,” Hawkins added with a smile. “We want to get the ball back to them as soon as possible. There ain’t no telling what he can do. He’s a dangerous man. Dangerous man. Dangerous…everybody on offense is dangerous, but he’s on a different level right now.”