Patriots' Pharaoh Brown explains rejection of 'nothing to lose' attitude

New England Patriots icon and NFL analyst Devin McCourty recently explained that the fact the 3-11 Patriots are "still playing hard for" head coach Bill Belichick amid the final weeks of a lost season is one reason team owner Robert Kraft may not part ways with Belichick this winter. 

Backup tight end Pharaoh Brown offered a deeper look at the team's mindset during a chat with Patriots beat reporter Zack Cox of NESN. 

"The (3-11) record isn’t what everybody wanted it to be, and you always hear people saying, 'Oh, we don’t got nothing to lose,'" Brown said. "But when you really look at it, we’ve all got families. We’ve all got people that care for us. We’ve all got a lot of people around here that put a lot of stuff into this and that’s enough to play for." 

Brown noted that he mentioned rejecting the "nothing to lose" mantra while offering a pep talk during a team meeting that occurred ahead of the Patriots' 21-18 win at the Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 7. While one couldn't blame Patriots players for phoning in the campaign's final three games considering all of the uncertainty hovering over the franchise, Brown suggested those inside the locker room will continue to fight for Belichick and the rest of the coaching staff.

"So just having that gratitude for the game and just going out and having that confidence," Brown continued. "I feel like when I hear, 'Oh, you’ve got nothing to lose,' your confidence is low. No, the results are not working, but you’ve just got to keep that confidence." 

Belichick may want to remain in New England past Week 18 but could be either traded or fired, in part because the Patriots will miss the playoffs for a third time in four years. He's been linked with the Los Angeles Chargers, Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears (among other clubs) and there's no indication he plans to retire even though he turns 72 years old this coming April. 

Brown and the Patriots next play at the 7-7 Denver Broncos on Sunday night. As of Friday evening, oddschecker listed New England as a 5.5-point underdog for the Christmas Eve showdown.