The Patriots locker room is never a really boisterous place, but it was exceptionally quiet in the wake of Thursday night’s 36-35 preseason loss to the Rams. That tone was likely set by coach Bill Belichick, who was clearly not the happiest guy in the world when he approached the podium after the game. (Cornerback Darius Butler was asked about Belichick’s postgame demeanor in the locker room. He smiled ruefully and said, “I’m not going to talk about that.”) Here’s a quick sampling of the Q&A he had with reporters:

Q: Laurence Maroney didn’t register any carries. Should we read anything into that?
BB: Yeah, we never had the ball.

Q: So would he have played more in the second half possibly if you had the ball?
BB: We never had the ball. We didn’t have any plays to run on offense.

Q: So your plan was to play him tonight if you had the ball?
BB: We would have played everybody.

Q: Is that why you kept Tom Brady in so long — to get him enough plays?
BB: We didn’t run any plays. We never had the ball. In a game of no defense, we played less.

Q: How disappointed are you in your defense?
BB: We didn’t do well on anything. We didn’t have a good night.

In the wake of the loss, WEEI.com has you covered. I’ve got the 10 Things We Learned Thursday Night, which includes the question that’s been hanging over the running back position all summer: What’s up with Laurence Maroney? (There’s also the complete postgame Q&A with New England’s latest folk hero and one of the few bright spots from Thutsday night’s game, Rob Gronkowski.)

Kirk Minihane hits on Stephen Gostkowski’s contract extension, as well as a look at the defensive performance against the Rams and rookie quarterback Sam Bradford. DJ Bean has three things that went right and three things that went wrong for the Patriots. And Mike Petraglia looks at Brandon Tate’s night, which started with a 97-yard kick return and ended with some good-natured ribbing from his teammates about being caught by a kicker.