09-08-2006, 10:31 AM
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#1
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Veteran Starter w/Big Long Term Deal
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 8,679
My Mood:
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BB's team wide muzzle is firmly in place
and there are enforcers all over the locker room 
http://patriots.bostonherald.com/pat...ticleid=156519
Tight-lipped Pats in midseason form
By Karen Guregian
Boston Herald General Sports Reporter and Columnist
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Friday, September 8, 2006 - Updated: 06:46 AM ES
FOXBORO - Bill Belichick doesn’t know how his team is going to perform on the field Sunday. He can’t tell you how the Patriots are going to take shape, what kind of identity they’re going to forge.
Off the field, in the locker room, however, he’ll be happy to know the boys are behaving just the way he’s drawn it up on the chalkboard.
They’re in the “don’t say anything” and “keep ’em guessing” mode. They’ve adopted the “Us vs. The World” mentality. They’ve shed the “I’s” for “We’s.”
Maybe that’s why Belichick actually smiled for a half-second yesterday.
By the look and sound of it, his players are in midseason form. The Belichick way has filtered down to all the new personnel and quickly been implemented and ingrained by the coaching staff and the players who know the routine.
The rookies have gotten the message from the veterans that they’re supposed to be seen and not heard.
One locker room scene yesterday had Willie Andrews kindly agreeing to an interview. The first-year defensive back was about five words into his first answer, when Rodney Harrison walked by.
“You don’t have anything to say,” Harrison said, without breaking stride. “You’re a rookie. You haven’t done anything yet. What could you have to talk about?”
Andrews gave a sheepish look back at the 13-year-veteran.
“I guess I have nothing to say,” Andrews said.
End of discussion.
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Quote:
The classic example is Tedy Bruschi. This is pure Belichickian. Ever since the linebacker suffered his broken right wrist in camp, he hasn’t spoken to the media, dodging at every turn.
This week, with the season opener against the Bills on tap, he made sure not to be in the locker room during media availability. Yesterday was the first time he was seen at practice during the open media portion of the proceedings, which amounts to a brief window of time.
When one reporter was talking to Larry Izzo about Bruschi yesterday, Vrabel, butting in on the conversation as he walked by, cautioned Izzo not to get involved in that discussion.
The question had nothing to do with whether or not Bruschi was going to play Sunday, bulky cast and all, but that didn’t matter.
Similar to Andrews, Izzo had started an answer, but the next words of his mouth after Vrabel’s warning were, “I have no comment.”
Why?
Forbidden topic.
A minute later, Izzo, perhaps feeling bad about his abrupt non-reply, said, “I don’t like talking about Tedy’s situation. You have to walk a tight line (in here).”
That’s right. It’s game-face time. The team is in lock-down mode. No time for any breaches. No time to start any fires.
Rookies don’t talk. Bruschi’s injury - or anyone else’s - as well as discussion about Deion Branch’s holdout, are off-limits.
It’s part of the formula for winning. This is Belichick’s way. The Patriots’ way.
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I guess BB's kool-aid is still STRONG.
Last edited by DefenseRules; 09-08-2006 at 10:32 AM..
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