Ochocinco: 'Something ain't right'

Ochocinco spoke out Thursday on what has been a frustrating season for him in New England.

share

"The competitive side to me, it's like '(Expletive) Chad, you didn't help contribute,'" Ochocinco said at his locker inside Gillette Stadium. "I'm just being honest, man. I've said to myself, 'You didn't help.' That's the competitive side… Then there's the other side of me, like, 'Dude, something ain't right.' You know? I don't know. There's two ways to look at it."

There are many angles to examine why Ochocinco, now 34, did not become a fit in New England's run to Super Bowl XLVI. Wes Welker and Deion Branch remain the pair of veterans that continue to carry the load; the emergence of tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez have been tremendous; and there is a belief that Ochocinco just has been incapable of grasping, and executing, what the Patriots do on the offensive side of the football.

"To come from something for 10 years and then come somewhere else and try to adjust and pick up and go. I tried, I tried really hard," Ochocinco said. "To come in and be that same guy and operate on the same terms and pick up right where I left off? No bueno; no bueno; no, not even for me.

"I'm one flashy, sh*t talkin', you know how I approach the game of football. When I'm quiet for a whole season, you know something ain't right. I don't know."

Without answers, the Patriots have moved on, and with ease, landing in their first Super Bowl since 2008 by knocking off the Baltimore Ravens last week with Ochocinco watching in street clothes. He has only one touchdown this season, and still can't put his finger on why his first season in New England has been the worst of his 11-year career, one that has taken him to the Pro Bowl some six times.

"Things happen, man. A decade of football; I've been playing at a high level and I was expected to come in and do the same thing here. It didn't work that way, for whatever reason, it didn't," Ochocinco said. "But what did I do? Did I cry? Did I fuss? No.

"I came in here and busted my ass every single day -- every day. My work ethic, nothing has changed. Because if it did, I don't think I would be here. Everyone knows that."

Ochocinco and Albert Haynesworth were two splash additions to the Patriots over the lockout-shortened off-season. Both took paycuts. Both didn't work. But Haynesworth was released Nov. 8. Ochocinco has remained.

"What have I done? I've handled it the best way I could. As professional as possible," he said. "Coming in everyday early. Studying, you know, everything I could, it just didn't happen the right way. The way I expected, the way everyone expected it.

"What do you do? Just keep going back to the drawing board and working and working, and at some point, it's going to break. When that point will be? I don't know."

Nor do the Patriots, and while Ochocinco hopes to return to New England next season, there has been no indication the feeling is mutual with the organization.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was curt in his comments regarding the player formerly known as Chad Johnson.

"Chad has worked hard," Belichick said at his Thursday news conference. "He's made a very good effort to do everything we've asked him to do on the football field."

Ochocinco is more optimistic about the future.

"It's going to pay off. Maybe not this year, maybe next year. Going into next year would be a lot easier, now that I have a year under my belt. We'll see," he said.

"I've enjoyed every minute of it. You don't understand me. Every minute. Every snap, every practice, every learning session. Tom, Deion, Wes, man, they've been unbelievable, dude."