‘It’s really disappointing’: Robert Kraft dishes first public comments on Patriots’ underwhelming 2023 season

Patriots

The Patriots owner expressed disappointment, but he wasn’t asked any questions on Bill Belichick.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft discussed the state of his team prior to Sunday’s game in Germany. Doug Murray/AP Photo

Robert Kraft is feeling the same way many Patriots are feeling about the team’s 2023 season.

The Patriots owner – in an interview with NFL Network prior to Sunday’s game against the Colts in Germany on Sunday – answered his first question about the team’s struggles.

“This our 30th year that I’ve had the privilege of owning this team, and I’ve never been 2-7,” Kraft told NFL Network’s Rich Eisen. “So, it’s really disappointing. I had hoped that things would be a lot better, as I know our fanbase did. And I hope today is a chance to reset and make this a much better year. This isn’t what we were expecting to happen this year.”

In a follow-up, Eisen alluded to Kraft’s speech to Patriots fans in Germany on Saturday, saying that Kraft wanted badly to win Sunday’s game. Kraft replied “very much,” before sharing a similar story he told Patriots fans on Saturday, mentioning the speech he gave to the team earlier that day.

“I had fans come up on the street to me who had watched Matthew Slater’s dad, Jackie, play here 33 years ago, and they remembered plays he had made,” Kraft said. “So, I used that as an example to speak to the team after practice and say, except for the Super Bowl, I don’t know that there any other games that create the memories that these international games do. … It’s a great chance to make a mark and great memories.”

While there have been many questions about coach Bill Belichick’s future in New England, Kraft wasn’t asked any questions about him. A few reports emerged in the 24 hours prior to Sunday’s game that the team and Belichick could agree to part ways at season’s end after 24 years together.

The Patriots are on pace to have just the fifth losing season in Kraft’s 30-year tenure and their first back-to-back losing seasons during that span.