FOXBORO — Just got back from the Patriots locker room, and it was a quiet session. Not a lot of folks available — Wes Welker, Gary Guyton and Kevin Faulk were among those who were talking. Here are a few of those quotes:

Wes Welker, who said he’s going back home to Oklahoma
On the bye week…
We’re looking forward to it. We definitely want to have a good practice today and make sure we don’t have one foot in the parking lot or anything like that. Definitely looking forward to getting a few days to see the family back home and things like that.

Welker is heading to Oklahoma for the bye week. (AP)

On where he thinks the offense is right now…
We’re coming along. We’re making strides. We’re improving. That’s the ultimate goal, so we’re starting to get there. There are a lot of things we need to improve on and get better at, but we’re making strides in the right direction. We just need to continue making those.

Any one phase in particular that might be closer than anything else?
Probably our passing game has definitely improved. I think a lot of our areas have improved and need to continue to improve.

Kevin Faulk
On this year’s rookie class…
They’ve played real well. But at the same time, just as this team has to improve, they have to improve as well. No matter how well they’ve played, it’s coming to the end of the season, and like I said earlier, we know that at this point and time, that’s where good teams separate themselves from the pack. Everybody has to play better.

On the secret to getting yards after catch…
Pretty much before you even catch the ball, you have to know where the guys are going to be. That’s one factor. Then, it’s knowing what kind of defense they’re in — is it zone, is it man. There are a couple of factors that weigh in on it. You have to know and figure it out. Once you catch the ball, just turn up the field and go North,

On whether or not you can teach that to a rookie, or a player needs game reps to really recognize that…
Both. You can do it both. You can see it on film. You can also talk them through it when they’re trying to apply it. Putting it to work.

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