FOXBORO -- To be considered a truly great team in the NFL, you not only have to be physically tough, but mentally resilient as well.

That mental toughness can come in many forms. Whether it’s a gutty win on the road or the ability to rise above the noise and take care of business at home, it’s a necessary element if you want to separate yourself from the rest of the pack in professional football. But that real resolve is needed on a weekly basis in the postseason. And if you don’t have that required level of fortitude needed to succeed, chances are good you’ll be one-and-done in fairly quick fashion.

In New England, that’s taken a couple of different forms the last two seasons. The 2009 Patriots were a team with a glass jaw that was exposed on the road -- they went 2-6 away from home (including one win in the United States), and failed to show any sort of the requisite mental toughness that was needed to advance in the postseason. Almost predictably, they were drummed out of playoffs in the first round, losing an ugly one at home to Baltimore, 33-14.

Last season, there were flashes of that mental toughness, most notably when they came together nicely down the stretch after a hideous November loss to the lowly Browns in Cleveland. Late in the season, there were high-character wins over teams like Green Bay and Pittsburgh, as well as a memorable 45-3 curb-stomping against the Jets. But the well ran dry in the divisional playoffs, as the Patriots suffered their third consecutive playoff loss, this one at the hands of New York, 28-21.

Is the 2011 team any different than its’ predecessors? By landing the No. 1 seed and home field throughout, they’ve already surpassed the relatively low bar set by the 2009 team. At this point, they’ve equaled what the 2010 team was able to accomplish, and had some character-defining wins of their own, including a 37-16 win over the Jets in New Jersey on Nov. 13 that allowed them to halt a rare two-game losing streak, seize control of the division and put their destiny in their own hands.

In the locker room after practice on Wednesday, the Patriots said that when it comes to mental toughness, this team has certainly shown more resiliency than in year’s past.

“To be honest with you, this isn’t the same team as the previous years,” linebacker Jerod Mayo said. “I think this team is mentally tough. A playoff game in itself is motivation. We’re pretty motivated.”

Among the players, one of the things that has led to the belief that this team might be made of sterner stuff than the 2009 or 2010 team is that they have been able to mount some serious comebacks over the last month or so. The Patriots have posted come-from-behind wins in their last four games: against Washington, they trailed by three and came back to win by seven; against Denver, they trailed by nine and won by 18; against Miami, they were down 17 and won by three; and against Buffalo, they were down 21 and scored 49 unanswered points to win.

In fact, the 2011 Patriots have come from behind in nine of their 13 wins during the regular season, overcoming an average deficit of 8.4 points in those victories. That includes four deficits of at least nine points (or at least two scores). That trumps the 2010 team, which posted seven comebacks wins -- in those games, they overcame an average deficit of 6.7 points.

However, the argument that the Patriots’ character has been forged by a series of comebacks is a bit of a double-edged sword: The glass-is-half-empty fan would tell you that the Patriots never should have been facing those deficits to begin with, blaming slow starts. Meanwhile, an optimist -- including those in the New England locker room -- would tell you that sort of comeback capability breeds toughness.

“There’s no change in this team no matter what. Whether we’re up a lot, we’re down, if it’s a tight game, we know guys are going to come out, compete and work hard,” said cornerback Devin McCourty. “I think we all can trust in each other that the guy next to me is working just as hard as me. That enables us to go out there and play and play for each other and leave it all other there.”

“It’s just a tough group -- tough, tough, mentally tough football team that, you know what, for 60 minutes we’re going to fight. I’ll tell you that,” said defensive lineman Vince Wilfork. “We might not be pretty, but we will not give up. I don’t care how long we play. This team will not give up, so if you’ve got to beat us it’s going to take 60 minutes plus, because we’re not just going to fold our hand no matter what the score is.”

While praising his team’s resiliency, Wilfork also makes sure to note the fact that they can’t afford to be facing double-digit deficits when the postseason begins for them a week from Saturday.

“Being down 21 points in the playoffs, you don’t want to be there, especially with these teams. Trust me, you don’t want to be there, so I think we should get in turned around. I’m excited. I hope we get it turned around and I have the faith that we will,” he said. “Only time will tell, but at the same time one thing that I will tell you [is] that this team will no matter what the outcome may be this team will play their butts off for a full game, and that’s all you can ask at the end of the day.

“This team shows me a lot each week. This team never gets too down and never gets too high, so the character of this team is amazing. We haven’t had a team like this in a while. Hopefully, we can finish this thing off where we want to be. Like I said, we have to get through one game first. But with this team, like I said, I love my chances with this team.”