New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick didn’t see the silver lining or the bright side. He just saw the loss for what it was. Even during his Monday morning press conference, Belichick was unwilling to give compliments to his team after the 17-16 defeat to the Miami Dolphins in Week 1.

He was asked about multiple players and positional units. He had roughly the same answer, even when asked about quarterback Mac Jones, who seemed to settle into the offense nicely in his NFL debut.

“I don’t want to keep being redundant, but it’s all really the same,” Belichick said on Monday. “We did some good things in the game. We certainly had our opportunities, but we didn’t do enough in any one area to have the results that we want. There’s a lot of room for improvement for all of us, coaches, players. Whatever positions you want to name, whatever players you want to name — everybody did enough things to give us an opportunity and we had our chances, but in the end, we weren’t able to take advantage of them and capitalize on them. So we all have a lot of work to do in terms of finishing those opportunities and getting the results we want.

“I don’t know any other way to put it. It’s the same for everybody. It’s not like one player cost us the game and somebody else won the game for us and all that. That’s just not what happened.”

Bill Belichick Live Press Conference 9/13: https://t.co/XOCiJ6jzJK

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 13, 2021

Belichick wouldn’t bury running back Damien Harris for his fumble on the 9-yard line, which cost the Patriots a chance at winning the game in the fourth quarter. They were range to chip a field goal — or score a touchdown. His turnover left the score as it was, with New England trailing.

“There’s a lot of things all of us could’ve done better in the game, so I think we all need to improve on the areas we’re responsible for,” Belichick said when asked if Harris’ fumble might result in less playing time in coming weeks.

Belichick was then asked about receiver Nelson Agolor, who led the team in receiving yards (5 catches, 72 yards, 1 touchdown) after being limited for all of the team’s Week 1 practices?

“That’s the just National Football League,” Belichick said. “That’s just part of being a professional and doing what you can do and not focusing on what you can’t do but preparing for what you can do.”

And the tight ends, Jonnu Smith and Henry Henry, who combined for eight catches and 71 yards?

“Both good players, but we all needed to do a better job,” Belichick said. “There’s not one person that fell outside that category.”