Therefore, it was no surprise that quarterback Jacoby Brissett let out a battle cry that proclaimed the Patriots’ mental strength.

“(Brissett) said, ‘Let’s get them on the (expletive) hill.’ After that, everyone started saying it,” the defensive tackle said Of which Godchaux.

“I think it was a mix of all of us,” Brissett said. “I can’t take all the credit because my mind was elsewhere. But I definitely got the message across. That’s for sure.”

The Patriots were able to shut down the Bengals with a devastating running game, a game that had its roots in sprints up the hill after practice in summer conditions. The Patriots went up the hill. In the end, the Bengals couldn’t keep up.

“That came from a lot of our experienced guys on the team,” said rookie offensive lineman Layden Robinson. “We all just started saying it in the players’ meeting. ‘Let’s do it.’ We ran the ball, and we ran the ball, and we ran the ball. And we finished the game. And we won.”

“I think that was one of the coolest moments of my career,” Brissett said. “Everyone in the group said, ‘Let’s get them on the mound,’ because we knew we were in so much better shape than them, and I think it paid off.”

The hill has long been an integral part of the Patriots’ training culture. Introduced by Bill BelichickIt became a fundamental element of New England’s second dynasty for several reasons, not least because there are many teams that no longer place any emphasis on conditioning after training camp.

“They leave it to the players. That was the whole team,” said Chris Hoganwho played for the Patriots from 2016 to 2018. “They broke it down by skill position players, big guys, offense and defense.

“When I was there, it was like this: no matter how bad we were, no matter how broken we were, we all went out and did it. In the middle of January, you’re supposed to be in good shape, right? But you feel like crap, it’s cold, it’s snowing. The last thing you want to do after two hours of training is run up the mountain.”

Hogan said it felt like they never came out of one of those sessions with fewer than ten trips up and down the mountain.

“It wasn’t like you were fighting it,” he said. “When I got there, there wasn’t a single person fighting it. There was a competitive element. I wanted to try and race. Devin McCourty to the top of the hill. I wanted to try racing Jonathan Jonesone of the fastest guys on the team, to the top.”

The hill remained an important part of the training program under Mayo, who said the opportunity to take players “into the deep end” was a good way to test their mettle.

“We’ve talked about how we can artificially create adversity in training,” Mayo said. “One of those ways is after a two-hour, 15-minute workout where you go one way or two ways, you go to the hill. One way is to say, ‘Oh man, I have to go to the hill.’ The other way is, ‘All right, we have to break through this wall and push our bodies.’

“We have a lot of confidence in our conditioning and what we’ve been through all summer. The guys that started saying in the fourth quarter (Sunday) ‘get them on the mound,’ I think that’s great. That came from the players.”

In the end, it may not be as succinct as some maxims that have guided Patriots teams of the past, but it’s the kind of catchphrase they’ll keep in mind going forward.

“That’s kind of the motto,” said Godchaux. “I’m definitely going to copyright it.”

Field report

The Patriots had only one player, an offensive lineman Sidy Sow (ankle), missed training on Wednesday. Eight people were restricted, including center David Andrews and run back Rhamondre Stevensonwhich were classified as “non-injury/rest”. Safety Jabrill peppers (hip) was also among the limited, as was Offensive Tackle Vederian Lowe (Abdomen) . . . Sunday’s opponents, the Seahawks, were missing four players from practice, including running back Kenneth Walker (oblique) and offensive tackle George Fant (Knee).

Christopher Price can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @cpriceglobe.