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Patriots Focus On Themselves During Bye Week

FOXBORO (CBS) -  The New England Patriots do not know who they will play in their divisional playoff next Saturday, but they do know they can improve in their week off.

"We all realized there are a lot of areas we can get better at," guard Brian Waters said Tuesday at Gillette Stadium. "That's going to be the focus this week; getting better individually and on certain things we think we can improve on going forward."

The Patriots used Tuesday to review film of their 49-21 regular season-ending win  over the Buffalo Bills, trying to figure out why for a third straight week they've gotten off to a slow start and needed a furious comeback to claim a victory. Not knowing their next opponent allows the Pats to focus on themselves, at least for one week.

Blog: Patriots vs. Playoff Teams

"Coming in tomorrow I'm more than sure there will be a lot of focus on details; some of the things we haven't been able to go over during the course season because we're getting ready for the next opponent," said Waters. "Given that we don't know who our next opponent is, it gives us a chance to focus on ourselves."

The Patriots earned a first-round bye and home field advantage throughout the playoffs after finishing the regular season 13-3. But the Pats have also had home playoff games each of the last two seasons, with both of them ending in a New England loss.

Both the bye and home field are great, but only if the Pats take advantage of them.

"It's comfortable for us to kind of stay in our routine, but we've seen a lot of teams with home field advantage not take advantage of it," Waters said. "Hopefully this week we'll be able to get the most out of this week, and next week take all these days and have some good practices and good preparation and take advantage of it."

Read: Potential Playoff Opponents

Taking advantage will mean sticking to their routine and making the most of the extra time on the practice field.

"Routine is what saves you; it's what lets you know you're prepared. If you fall off the routine, you're going to always feel like you left something out," said Waters. "It's like packing at the last minute; you always feel like you there is something you forgot.  If you're preparing through the course of this week and next week, you'll feel prepared going into the game. "

One subject Waters wanted to avoid was how loud Gillette Stadium can get. He expects a very loud crowd when the Patriots take the field next Saturday night, and wouldn't say much more than that.

"I have played in some loud places, and this place can be loud -- at times," he said.

A reporter followed that up with whether Waters thought the Gillette crowd could be louder.

"You said that," he said with a smile. "I didn't say that"

"I'm not going to get into that one. That's not a good situation to really comment on," said Waters.

The Patriots have a first-round bye, but be sure to tune in to a special playoff edition of Patriots GameDay Sunday January 8 at 11:30am on WBZ-TV. Then on Saturday, January 14, tune in to the Pats Playoff matchup on WBZ-TV and 98.5 The Sports Hub at 8pm. Pregame coverage begins with 98.5′s Patriots Preview at 5pm.

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