The Lions began their tour with a warm-up Test against Argentina in Dublin, a match they lost to a team Farrell would later describe as "hungrier" than his own charges.
That assessment alone would have irked a man whose own rugby league career was built on hunger and effort; standards he clearly demands from his players.
"Andy's been very good at talking about impressing each other rather than everyone else outside the picture," Tommy Freeman told reporters ahead of the game against the Western Force last month.
But, bar a few stand-out performances from some individuals, those standards do not appear to be there, and clunky starts appear to be the only way for the Lions in 2025.
Against the Western Force, they were first on the board but conceded immediately after the restart. By the end of the 40 minutes, they were only 21-7 ahead. When they visited the Reds in Brisbane earlier this week, they were only 21-12 to the good at the break.
In Sydney, their most recent outing, they were 14-5 ahead after an error-strewn first half against the Waratahs.
"We've seen one or two animated performances from Andy Farrell at half-time, I should think that his players will be in for another one of those," presenter Alex Payne said during Sky Sports' coverage at the interval.
But whatever was said, it didn't seem to work. The Lions conceded a penalty almost as soon as they were back on the field, resulting in an attacking lineout to the Waratahs from which the Australians stampeded over from close range to make it 14-10.
With Farrell's words still ringing in their ears, the Lions had conceded within 90 second-half seconds.
Against the Force and the Reds, the Lions would go on to win comfortably, but a caveat to that came from Sky pundit Sam Warburton after the victory over the Force, in which he reminded viewers that the Lions replacements that were coming off the bench were first choice for their country, while the Force players coming off the bench were second choice for their club.
That gulf in player pedigree has allowed the Lions to get out of jail late on twice so far, but their luck nearly ran out against the Waratahs, and they will need more than luck if their error count continues in the upcoming Test series against the Wallabies.
"I'd a few dropped balls myself and individual errors cost us a bit of continuity in terms of our attack," captain Tadhg Beirne said after full-time in Sydney.
"That's something we're definitely going to have to look at and figure out how to improve so it doesn't happen again."
The Lions' handling was poor at times, but their accuracy in the Waratahs' half was glaring. Josh van der Flier and Ellis Genge both knocked the ball on in the act of scoring a try, while Marcus Smith's kick for the corner near the end of the game was one to forget for a man hoping to make it into the Test team.
Those were stand-out errors, but there were instances of simply knocking the ball on when in the opposition half, and even giving away a penalty when in possession in the opposition half - something Farrell will find harder and harder to forgive, given how often it happens.
"I'm disappointed. We need to be honest with ourselves, take the learning and improve, then at least it will stand for something," the boss had said after that tour-opening loss to Argentina.
Have the players done enough to eradicate those mistakes?
Cohesion is always going to be a problem for the Lions. As Ronan O'Gara said on comms on Saturday, combinations take years to build rather than weeks, and the Lions have only been together for days.
The interplay between Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones for the opening try showed the value of picking combinations that know each other well. However, it's not the combinations that will worry Farrell.
In fact, it's a topic he gives very little time to when asked about it in press conferences. He knows there is only so much that can be done in that area.
But handling errors and a lack of discipline won't cut it in a Farrell-led team.
"We kept on trying to overplay at times, certainly around halfway, and putting ourselves back under pressure and keeping them in the game," the Lions coach said after the most recent win against the Waratahs.
"And that amount of turnover ball is credit to them, obviously, but not good enough from us.
"But with the amount of territory and possession we had, to come away with so much dropped ball and turnovers, to say we left a few out there, is an understatement.
"We didn't come out of the blocks hard enough. We need to address that and we need to address our exits after scoring tries and be more clinical there."
For the Lions' part, they have been spared at times by moments of individual brilliance. Mack Hansen drew praise for some end-to-end commitment against the Force, chasing down opponents as well as the ball to force a turnover.
On Saturday it was Joe McCarthy, who is having a tour to remember, who created the spark.
The lock forward chased down an attempted free kick from the opposition, forcing prop forward Taniela Tupou to make a comical attempt at kicking for touch, only to concede a scrum.
From the scrum, the Lions scored through a solo effort from Alex Mitchell to put the game to bed.
But while individual brilliance will win you games against Super Rugby teams, it won't be enough to win you a Test series, and that Test series is now looming.
"This is how these tours go," Farrell said post-match in Sydney. "We bounce from game to game and we take the learnings from each one as we go forward."
One can only suspect that the conversations the Lions will be having behind closed doors will be slightly less downplayed.