Patriots running back Laurence Maroney shared coach Bill Belichick's blunt message to do so, one that hits fairly hard.

``We need to stop living in the past,'' Maroney said. ``We ain't the '07 team, we ain't the '03 team, we ain't the '01 team. We're the '09 team. We got to play with what we have here and make a name for ourselves and stop living like, `Oh, we're the championship-caliber team.' Just focus on what we can do now.''

Belichick emphasized that these are not the Patriots of old. Yesterday, he harped on not living in the past, and that the previous few weeks don't matter for this team.

``Right now, we're 7-5,'' said Belichick, whose team hosts the Carolina Panthers (5-7) on Sunday. ``There are a couple teams behind us at 6-6. I don't think it really matters how anybody got there. That's where we are. It's a four-game season.''

As Maroney explained, attention can't be paid to players who have departed from championship teams. Time can't be spent - for the defense, for instance - on where the team would be with stalwarts like Mike Vrabel and Richard Seymour. Instead, the Pats are trying to hold onto their one-game AFC East division lead by zeroing in on what they can control.

``A lot of the players who were on those (championship) teams are not here,'' Maroney said. ``We have to really make a name for ourselves as being the '09 team.''

Veteran defensive end Jarvis Green described the huge turnover from those championship years as ``part of the business.''

``Guys change, coaches change, players change,'' said Green, who has two Super Bowl rings. ``We have an older team for us age(-wise), but we've got a lot of good guys in this locker room. And we don't look at those years. That's the past and this is 2009. Right now, we're 7-5. We've got Carolina next week and that's what we're worried about.''

The mystique and aura of the Patriots still is meaningful for opponents, many of whom view a win against the Pats as special. That was clear with the Super Bowl-like atmosphere in New Orleans. And it might indeed be special.

But for that target to stay on the Patriots' back, losing three of their past four must become a blip on the radar, not a sign of things to come.

Will this be known as the team that kept the dynasty afloat with a quick turnaround? Or will there be worse consequences?

``We've got to play better, we've got to coach better, we've just got to do a better job than we did (Sunday),'' Belichick said. ``We've got to recommit ourselves to that. We have to play our best Football at this critical time of the year. That's what we all should be about.''

The Patriots don't have the same stellar resume of the past. They are lacking the quality wins of teams that made the playoffs from 2003 to 2007. They are merely where they were last year, in a Tom Brady-less season.

It's just that this season, 11-5 would earn a playoff spot.

``We've got to play better,'' Green said. ``We've got to play as a team if we want to win.''

- irapoport@bostonherald.com