The Patriot Way might be synonymous with New England's sustained success this century -- which includes 15 division titles, eight Super Bowl appearances and five Lombardi Trophies -- but winning, it turns out, isn't everything.

This has been a recurring theme from -- of all places -- several members of the reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles. The latest to make this point: Pro Bowl guard Brandon Brooks, who never played for Bill Belichick and the Patriots but spent four seasons with Belichick's protégé, Bill O'Brien, in Houston before joining the Eagles before the 2016 season.

"It's crazy that people haven't known this," Brooks said Tuesday, via Bleeding Green Nation. "It's been this way for like a decade. You've seen -- Reggie Wayne did it. He retired. He went there [to the Patriots] for a training camp and retired. S--- is not fun there. I was under the same regime in Houston [with O'Brien]. I almost retired. S--- was miserable, every day. Every day."

Desperately wish you had a 30-minutes-or-so, daily NFL podcast in your podcast app every morning by 6 a.m.? Put some Pick Six Podcast in your life and join Will Brinson as he breaks down the latest news and notes from around the league, as well as the win totals on a team-by-team schedule. It's a daily dose of football to get you right for that commute or gym trip. Subscribe: via iTunes | via Stitcher | via TuneIn | via Google Play

O'Brien was an offensive assistant in New England from 2007-2011 and became the Texans' head coach in 2014.

"I came in [as a rookie] under [Gary] Kubiak, who was just an older version of Doug [Pederson]," Brooks continued. "Then I went to O'Brien, who was Belichick, and then I came back to Doug, who's like Kubes, so for me, man, s--- was great. Like, I cannot tell you how much better this is than it was down there. Like, it's just night and day. What does [Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland] say? Happy workers make more productive workers. When you're not having fun, man, those grinding, those hard-a-- nosed days ..."

Eagles teammate Lane Johnson interrupted.

"All the media wants to talk about is rings," Johnson began. "Rings. I'm going to get this ring and never wear it one day. I'm going to put it away in a box. The only thing you're going to remember from your playing days, you're not going to remember the scores. You're going to remember the people you played with and how you felt. And that's the truth.

"All these guys talking about 'I'll take the rings.' OK. You can have your rings. You can also have f------ 15 miserable years."

This isn't the first time Johnson has spoken about the Patriots' blueprint for sustained success. Earlier this month, he shared some of those thoughts during an appearance on "The Steve Austin Show."

"Here's what p----- me off," Johnson said at the time. "The Patriots, obviously, I respect their coach, I respect Bill, I respect Tom Brady. But just because the way they won the Super Bowls -- the Patriot Way -- is that how everybody else is supposed to do the same thing? No, it's not. And that's what I got mad at, the arrogance by them. There was obviously some stuff behind closed doors. Their owner talking s--- to our owner. Bill talking s--- to our head coach (Pederson) before the game. I'm not going to say it, but a lot of s--- kinda built up to that. And I just got tired of hearing about it, man, to be honest."

There's more. Before the Super Bowl, Johnson called Tom Brady a "pretty boy." And in February, he called them a "fear-based organization," noting that "they act like (expletive) robots."

"Not to be reckless, but I'd much rather have fun and win a Super Bowl than be miserable and win five Super Bowls," Johnson told the "Pardon My Take" podcast. "But hey, it is what it is."

Meanwhile, the Patriot Way may be showing signs of fatigue; future Hall of Famer Tom Brady has skipped OTAs, perhaps to spend more time with his family, even though he once said "[OTAs] lay the foundation for the start of training camp and if you have a good training camp it usually means a good start to the season."

And maybe Brady still feels that way. But missing these offseason workouts suggest that he agrees with Johnson: Some things -- like family -- more important than winning.