Patriots defensive back Antwain Spann was one of New England’s players called upon to step up because of injuries in the secondary this season.

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The Providence Journal / Bob Thayer

FOXBORO — The New England Patriots had a final team meeting yesterday.

Then they cleaned out their lockers and said their goodbyes.

Their season came to an end too soon.

“This is the final day that a lot of us are going to see each other,” defensive back Ellis Hobbs said.

The Patriots (11-5) are finding it tough to swallow that even though only four teams posted a better record than they did, New England did not qualify for the postseason while four teams that won fewer than 11 games did make the playoffs.

“It’s disappointing,” defensive lineman Richard Seymour said.

“You finish at 11-5 and then you come in here and you realize that you’re cleaning your locker out because you didn’t make the playoffs, so you’re happy with the way you finished but you’re disappointed that you’re not in the playoffs,” linebacker Mike Vrabel said.

The Patriots overcame a lot of adversity to record one of the best records in the NFL only to miss the playoffs — from the loss of All-Pro quarterback Tom Brady, and several other key players, including running back Laurence Maroney, safety Rodney Harrison, and linebackers Tedy Bruschi and Adalius Thomas to name a few.

Their schedule was a tough one, which included four games on the West Coast. They also faced harsh weather elements down the stretch of the season, yet still tied three other teams for the fifth-best record in the league.

That is something that they are proud of.

“A lot of people wrote us off,” Seymour said. “Ten minutes into the season we were written off. [Matt] Cassel was written off in the preseason and I just think we were a team that always found a way to win.

“We are a good team from top to bottom. We are not just one guy. We are a group of guys that can get the job done. It is a total team effort and that’s what we believe in. Obviously it didn’t get us into the playoffs this year but I think we had a respectable year and a lot of teams probably would have folded (under those circumstances).”

The Patriots being able to win games despite injuries to key players, “says a lot,” Thomas said. “You’re only as good as your weakest link. Every team has to deal with it and find different ways to win so my hat’s off to the guys in this locker room because the last month they played great ball when a lot of guys went down. Other guys stepped in and did a good job.”

“I think that’s just a credit to everybody’s focus and preparation on this team,” Hobbs said of overcoming injuries. “No guy is considered small in this organization. Everybody has their role and when you’re called upon it, I think everybody does a great job of playing their role and doing what they need to do for us to win.”

Hobbs said that “it’s very frustrating,” that the Patriots missed the playoffs because New England was playing its best football over the last month.

The Patriots were 4-0 in their last four games where they outscored their opponents by a combined score of 133-54.

“I thought coming down the stretch we were playing our best football, in December, and I think that’s what you want to do as a team, play your best football coming down the stretch,” Seymour said.

“It’s disappointing,” Cassel said. “We had a great push at the end. We won four straight games and I thought we were playing good football. Unfortunately we were not able to get an opportunity to play in the playoffs.”

If they had made the playoffs, the Patriots believe that they would have done well.

“What’s frustrating is the fact that we were playing good football and we felt that if we got an opportunity to get in the playoffs then we would have been a team that you would have had to deal with,” Cassel said. “Unfortunately we didn’t get that opportunity.”

New England is just the second team since the advent of the 16-game schedule in 1978 to record just five losses and not qualify for the postseason.

“I feel like if we played better (in our losses) we would have left ourselves in a better situation,” Seymour said. “I think in the past we won those tough football games and this year we came up just a little bit short.”

Even so, with everything the Patriots had to overcome this season, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said that he is proud of his team, and that his players should be proud of each other for what they accomplished this year.

roblee@projo.com