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Bill on WEEI
Patriots coach Bill Belichick was a guest on this morning’s Dennis & Callahan show on sports radio WEEI. Fred Smerlas and Steve DeOssie were filling in as hosts on the show.
Some snippets:
How would you assess this offseason?
“It’s been productive on a number of levels. You always like to see things a little bit better, but we had great participation in the offseason workouts. Players worked hard. They were into it. We had good participation in our spring camps. We got a lot done. That just puts us in position for training camp. That’s when it really has to come together, going full speed, competing, you get past the teaching phase and get into the execution phase. Staff-wise, we kept things together pretty well, made a few adjustments, changes in our scheme and studied some things some other people were doing around the league. I think we took some steps to improve, and we’ll see how it all comes together.”
How are the new guys acclimating to the way you do things, absorbing the game-plan?
“This group of guys has really been kind of special. They’ve all been here, for all the offseason workouts, from the time they signed. They’ve participated 100 percent in everything. Even though they have experience in the league, they’re ahead on the terminology and knowing how we do things. Looking back on some of the players that we signed in previous years, in some cases, that wasn’t always the way it happened. They had other commitments and weren’t able to join us in the offseason. I think they missed some valuable time. These guys have really jumped in with both feet and been some of our biggest participants. I think that’s a good sign and certainly doing everything you can to make it work and be successful. From that standpoint, they’ve fit in well because they’ve worked hard.”
Has it been difficult to draw some of the new players in, because they often have other offseason plans?
“They’ve been very good. They can be invigorated by what we’re doing, and I think to a certain degree we’re invigorated by new faces and new guys to work with. There is still a long way to go and we haven’t done anything yet. We haven’t blocked, or tackled, or caught a pass, or anything, in a competitive situation. But as far as preparation, which is such a big key for us, I think we’ve had a good spring. Hopefully that will manifest itself into a good training camp and a good productive football team.”
You have a few bigger receivers on the roster, which is different from the past. ...
"Receivers come in all different shapes and sizes, and there are all different skill sets. We see guys throughout the league that have different attributes to be successful. So I think, again, what it comes down to is whether a receiver can find a way to get open and catch the ball. There are a lot of different ways to do that, whether it's size, speed, quickness, with technique, using hands productively to catch the ball in traffic. Each guy has his own way of doing things. As long as they can do that in the passing game, that's positive. If they can't, there is no passing game. ..."
Laurence Maroney, is he going to be healthy for the start of training camp?
"We'll have to see how that comes along. I'm sure he'll be close. He's doing well. He's worked extremely hard this offseason. I'm sure he'll be ready to go. What the exact time will be, we'll wait and see how that comes along. But I'm sure he'll be ready to go."
How has Randy Moss been working with the rest of the team?
"Randy has participated in everything. When we signed him, he had already had a couple previous commitments. He was scheduled to do most everything, but had a previous commitment and wasn't going to be able to participate in a couple of things we had scheduled because he had already made scheduling arrangements on his own. He moved some of those things around. He had a good spring in terms of learning our system, picking up some of the things we do in the passing game that are a little bit different from what he's done in the past in Oakland and Minnesota. I wouldn't want to single him out, because really, I think you could say the same about all of our new players, and our veteran players. Those guys worked hard this year, picked up some of the adjustments and changes we made in our system. ..."
How are you spending your vacation?
"I've been getting a little extra coaching in with my kids and lacrosse, and summer lacrosse tournaments. We've had some work going too. It's good just to relax, spend a little time on Nantucket with the kids, do a little fishing, a little golfing, just do a little bit of nothing. ..."
