Jan. 07–FOXBORO — Too often, the phrase is used like a crutch. A quick response to explain the unexplainable.

Trading star defensive end Richard Seymour before last season? Cutting captain Lawyer Milloy in 2003? Sending away Hall of Fame receiver Randy Moss this midseason?

For fans grasping for answers to one of Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s zany moves, it was simple: “In Bill We Trust.”

Perhaps we all missed the meaning. Perhaps the true value is better explained in what is manifesting itself in the 2010 Patriots locker room.

Perhaps captain Alge Crumpler summed it up when asked to explain the role of a leader on this 14-2 team that has the AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed.

“Just reiterating the message,” said Crumpler, one of five captains. “All we do is try to let (Belichick) coach. The message that he gets across, we just reiterate that all week. It’s resonating. The guys that are named captains, the older guys, when we speak, everyone listens.”

Belichick speaks, captains pass it on, players trust.

What everyone believes is that there is something different inside Gillette Stadium than what was present in 2009.

There are fewer distractions, fewer sideways steps, fewer media-created circuses. There are more well-placed blinders, more steely eyes, more attention to little things in practice. And all players says practice is no longer a chore.

It’s easier to notice than detail.

“I think you can get a feel for how some things are going,” Belichick said.

What no one is quite sure of is how to explain it.

Leadership? Eh. That credits a small group of players, not the team.

An improved locker room culture? Eh. Nothing is more important than what translates to the field.

How to explain a stunning turnaround? How to explain a sudden surge of mental toughness for a team that no longer gives up games in the fourth quarter?

Whatever it is, it is dramatic.

“You have a bunch of guys that love this game,” said nose tackle Vince Wilfork, also a captain. “You have a bunch of guys that respect one another, that have trust with one another on this field. When we take the field, we prepare well. We’re built different (than previous years). What’s the special thing about this team is that no matter what happens, we find a way to keep going forward.”

What’s noticeable is the absence of some of last year’s loudest voices.

There is no disgruntled Adalius Thomas, snapping “Ask Bill” when one wonders about his playing time. There is no brash Moss, drawing attention to himself with public complaints about not feeling wanted. And there is no aging and affable Shawn Springs, who many feared was working behind the scenes as a locker room lawyer.

Instead, there are business-like players like Crumpler, cornerback Kyle Arrington and running back Danny Woodhead.

Players who simply listen to Belichick. They recite his words and defer when necessary.

The five captains, including injured running back Kevin Faulk, simply act as conduit.

They meet with Belichick on a weekly basis, then tell the other 49 players.

Belichick downplayed the significance of those players alone, saying they mostly “help me manage and deal with the team.”

No one wears a “C” on his jersey, and Belichick is quick to add, “We get good leadership from a lot of players on this team, not just the captains.”

And that’s the larger point.

Belichick’s protege, Alabama coach Nick Saban, would often talk of the difference between sheep and wolves.

“If we need a sheepdog to get them lined up and to get them where they need to get, then we have the wrong guys,” Saban said years ago. “Not trying to minimize leadership. I’m trying to maximize the individual responsibility of everyone else to not have to depend on (other players) to do it.”

It’s safe to say Belichick would support that view. In fact, while “leadership” often gets the credit for a positive atmosphere, that credit should be spread around. Belichick’s motto is “Do your job,” and players are.

All-time leaders like Rodney Harrison, Troy Brown and Faulk rarely spoke of leadership, they just performed their responsibilities for others to see. Earlier this year, safety Brandon Meriweather raised some eyebrows by saying that instead of a core group of vocal leaders, “Everyone on our team is a leader.”

Did Meriweather get it while others didn’t? Yesterday, he explained.

“If somebody’s having a bad day and somebody else is having a good day, the person who’s having a bad day can always feed off the energy of the other person,” Meriweather said. “He’ll be his leader for that day. Even if it was Tom (Brady) having a bad day, and Julian Edelman is having a great day, Tom can feed off of Edelman’s energy. Everybody’s a leader on this team.”

Listen to Belichick, help one another, do your job. Buzz words and truth, too.

That’s not to say everyone agrees with everything Belichick says. Is veteran James Sanders happy to be considered the third safety given his production? Doubtful. Does veteran running back Fred Taylor enjoy being a last resort?

No way.

But if you’re waiting to hear them grumble, even privately, you’ll be waiting awhile.

The result has been an eyes-forward approach to working — and winning — every day.

“It’s just a sense of everyone working for one thing,” linebacker Rob Ninkovich said. “We just have a younger group, so it’s a learning process. It’s cool to do it with everybody and you can feel it happening all at once.”