FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- While the New England Patriots' offense fine-tunes its game plan this week in advance of the regular-season opener against the Buffalo Bills, it will do so in a meeting room sprinkled with new faces.

The much-discussed turnover throughout the Patriots' pass-catching corps has overshadowed the fact that the defense is dealing with a nearly opposite set of circumstances.

The development of second-year defensive end Chandler Jones as a pass rusher is a key for the Patriots defense. AP Photo/Charles Krupa

In fact, the Patriots return their statistical leader in nearly every major defensive category, with linebacker Jerod Mayo (147 tackles), defensive end Rob Ninkovich (8.0 sacks), linebacker Brandon Spikes (five forced fumbles) and safety Devin McCourty (five interceptions) among them.

Throw in the anchor of the group, nose tackle Vince Wilfork, a pair of upstart second-year players, defensive end Chandler Jones and linebacker Dont'a Hightower, as well as cornerback Aqib Talib, perhaps the team's best coverage player in a handful of years, and the core of the defense is firmly intact.

Depending on one's view of defensive assessment, the Patriots' defense in 2012 was either a group with plenty of room to improve (they allowed the eighth-most yards in all of football, including the fourth-most passing yards) or better than a cursory view at yardage total suggests, as only eight teams allowed fewer points last season.

While part of the yardage can be attributed to the team playing the equivalent of prevent defense late in games during which they were nursing comfortable leads, the fact remains that the Patriots gave up nearly 6,000 total yards, an undeniably robust amount.

It remains to be seen whether the Patriots' young group of receivers can convert the promise they've shown to this point to production when the games count. But even if that group performs near the standards that departed pass catchers set before them, the Patriots need an improved defensive effort in 2013 to reach their ultimate goal.

After all, it was both sides of the football that let the team down in the AFC Championship Game, as the defense was unable to hit Joe Flacco even once, and the red zone defense was as poor as the Patriots' red zone offense was (the Ravens scored four touchdowns in four trips).

But with the season upon them, members of the Patriots' defense aren't focused on expectations and group goals.