Quick hits

BELICHICK TALKS HACKMAN: Like other teams, the Patriots are nearing crunch time when it comes to their draft preparations. Still, that hasn’t stopped Bill Belichick from enjoying some downtime, with one highlight coming when he visited with former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson and actor Gene Hackman in Florida. While he annually meets with Johnson, Belichick had never met Hackman before. “He’s a pretty interesting guy, he had a lot of funny stories,” Belichick said last week at the NFL’s annual meeting. “You look at the different roles he’s played, and then meet him in person, and you can really appreciate the ability to go from Hoosiers to [others]. That was fun.”

DID YOU KNOW: The Patriots, who open the preseason hosting the Baltimore Ravens, have never faced the Ravens before in the preseason. The only other NFL club the Patriots have never played in the preseason is Houston. The most frequent preseason opponents: Redskins (19), Eagles (17), Giants (17) and Packers (13).

BREAKING DOWN THE OFFENSIVE LINE: Former Patriots offensive lineman Ross Tucker, writing for SI.com, provides his ranking of the most important positions on the line. Patriots center Dan Koppen might object to Tucker’s final analysis.