Tom Brady has said that the New England Patriots will be using their bye week to improve for the playoffs.

Last season's beaten Super Bowl finalists have a week off after finishing second in the AFC.

The quarterback told reporters: "We've been working hard to figure out a bunch of things.

"There's a packet full of things we need to do better and things that we're really trying to work hard to improve on.

"Guys have really taken to those things, hopefully that leads into a great week of practice next week."

The Patriots will face a home tie against the highest remaining seed from this weekend's wildcard round.