Only one Essex batter passed 50 during the game – Charlie Allison top-scoring with 56 from 104 balls on day three before he became an lbw victim of Patterson-White.
“I know they are (2025) county champions but if I’m brutally honest, I don’t think we’ve really put our best foot forward in any department,” said Silverwood.
“In the first innings we left a lot of runs out there, we didn’t apply ourselves as well as we should have done.
“[Batting first] was absolutely the right decision. We didn’t apply ourselves and put the score on the board that we needed. That’s something we have to address.”
Silverwood was also concerned about fielding errors which saw “various chances and half chances missed” as Notts earned a lead of 273 on first innings.
“They took the opportunity that was given to them and their bowling attack kept pressure on us, they forced errors and made life very difficult for us. We have to give Notts credit for the way they played,” he added.
The result left Essex third in Division One, pending the outcome of Monday’s games in Cardiff and Taunton, 11 points behind Notts with six games left to play.
Red-ball cricket now takes a break because of the T20 Blast, One-Day Cup and The Hundred, with Essex’s next County Championship fixture away to Somerset starting on 20 August.