Patriots quarterback Tom Brady says following coach Bill Belichick is the key ingredient for a winning season.

The Providence Journal / Bob Thayer

FOXBORO — In everything they do this season, members of the New England Patriots must remember one simple word:

Finish.

Finish a block. Finish video study. Finish practices. Finish plays. Finish games.

Just finish. See it through to the end with as much effort as you start it with.

The way the Patriots finished last season has provided the theme of this season, as the players have been reminded, and will continue to be reminded, of that one word at every turn.

Finish.

Last year, as they racked up big wins and were accused of running up the score on opponents, Belichick explained that a football game is 60 minutes and he expected his team to play the full 60 minutes.

In some cases, the entire 60 was needed: see the crazy ending of the Monday night game in Baltimore or the Super Bowl. But while the Patriots came out on the winning side against the Ravens, a couple of instances of not finishing couldhave made the difference against the Giants.

“Not taking [anything] away from last season, but I think that’s where that saying comes from, ‘finish,’” Ty Warren said. “We had a good run, went 18-0, and then we lost the game that meant the most.”

Which is why the theme will be reinforced from now until December, or January, or February, should the Pats return to the Super Bowl.

“The Super Bowl is a long ways away, but I think at this point now we’re just trying to focus on ourselves, obviously the key word for us is finishing — finishing plays, finishing practices, finishing drills, so that’s our motivation so far,” defensive lineman Richard Seymour said.

“Everything we do, finishing plays, finishing games, finishing up the season and we’re going to take that each day. That’s the theme and we’re going to stick with it,” receiver Jabar Gaffney said.

“It’s not just finishing games or quarters,” tight end Benjamin Watson echoed. “It’s finishing in meetings, paying attention. It’s finishing plays — you see defensive guys running after offensive guys downfield to knock the ball out, guys making blocks downfield.”

Making sure his players finish is not anything new for Bill Belichick. But now the New England players have a constant reminder of what happens when they don’t finish. For the Patriots, that meant not just missing out on the glory of winning a championship and the tangible reward of a ring, but also falling short of the history of becoming the NFL’s first 19-0 team.

But the focus on finishing isn’t to prove anything, Tom Brady said; it’s just a matter of making the team better.

“I don’t think about proving anything to anybody except proving that we can work hard. You don’t focus on proving people wrong; you just focus on doing the best you can do,” he said. “You control how much effort you put in when you are on the practice field or in the meeting room. You control the effort you put out.”

It’s been mentioned more than once in the opening days of training camp that teams who lose the Super Bowl often fail to make the playoffs the next season. Brady says avoiding such a pitfall will begin with New England following its leader, Belichick.

Belichick says avoiding it will be to do what he generally wants his team to do: look internally, not externally, and look ahead, not behind.

“We have spent more time trying to look at ourselves like we do every year: what we did last year and how we can improve on that, whether it be coaching, strategy, player acquisitions, scheme,” he said. “I really don’t know what the specifics were for each one of those (Super Bowl-losing) teams, what they were dealing with and so forth. Right now it’s really not about last year; it’s about this year.” And this year may come down to one word.

As Watson noted, “When you finish plays, that’s when big things happen.”TODAY’S CAMP SCHEDULE

First session: 8:45-10:30 a.m.

Second session: 2:30-4:30 p.m.

Both sessions closed to the public

smanza@projo.com