After just a few hours of restless sleep following his team's 40-21 loss to the Indianapolis Colts Monday night, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady came out firing on the radio yesterday morning.

"We can hang in there, hang in there, then, as soon as things start going bad, rather than fight back with everything we've got . . . we're just not at that point yet," said Brady. "We've got to work hard to get to that point."

Throughout the conversation on WEEI, an animated and impassioned Brady fingered the team's intensity level as being a problem.

"They played much better than we did in our own stadium," he said. "That's the most disappointing part. I wish we would have showed a little more fight last night."

When it was pointed out that the Patriots are missing a cadre of key players and that the Colts' machine-like offense was a bad draw for the Pats' battered defense, Brady said, "We've dealt with those in the past. We've dealt with plenty of injuries. We've dealt with plenty of tough situations. I think a lot has to do with the character and toughness of the team. I think we need to show more character.

"I believe in the guys we've got," he continued. "I think we can play better than we did last night. If I didn't, I wouldn't be very frustrated. I'd just say, 'You know what, we'll never beat those guys.' But I don't really feel like that. We weren't going to beat them last night the way we played, but I thought wholeheartedly we would win that game. I don't care about injuries. We talk about ourselves as a team. When you talk about yourselves as a team, you mean it, and I mean it. There's not one guy that makes up the team."

Brady made a brief statement Monday night after the team's loss and left the podium without taking questions. But his revealing comments yesterday likely gave a much better glimpse of where his mind is at now that his team is 4-4.

"I think it's a general malaise," he said. "We look at the scoreboard and we're losing and things aren't going our way. We need to take that as a challenge, (not) go into that funk. We've been down in several games this year and come back and fought hard. We all know we're capable of it. There's nothing that says we can't score every time we touch the ball. There's no rule that says we can't. But sometimes I think we score and say, 'Wow, that wasn't too bad. Let's go out there again.' And it's not the same, and there's not that same sense of urgency. As a captain, I will stress to the team that we have to start playing with higher expectations for ourselves."

The Patriots' defense had its hands full with Indy Monday night, but that was to be expected. Offensively, Brady seemed to believe there were plays to be made that weren't. Even though the Pats scored 21 points and Brady had a good statistical night (22 for 33 for 265 yards and three touchdowns), New England seemed capable of doing much more offensively.

"What's lacking as much as anything is the ability to execute consistently," said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. "There's times we go down the field and make plays and times we don't. When you're down, 28-7, you probably won't have the same energy as you do on the other side of that score. I'm not saying you're throwing in the towel, but you have positive energy when things are flowing well. We need to make plays (to start positive energy flowing)."

Added Brady: "At times there is enthusiasm, at times I think we feel a little sorry for ourselves."

Given that the team is playing without several players it expected to be key cogs, that's somewhat to be expected. But Brady said wallowing is not allowed.

"We miss (safety) Rodney Harrison to death, but at the same time we have to do everything we can to play as well without him because we don't have him," said Brady. "There's been some big voids in leadership and experience, and other guys have to figure a way to get to a championship level.

"I can't sit there watching and being part of a team that's not playing to a level we're capable of," Brady added. "As a captain and a leader, that's the most difficult part. I sat there in bed last night going over every play, tossing and turning. I know we're better than the way we're playing. There's times we played so much better. I'm just wracking my brain to figure a way to get guys motivated, including myself."