Today is day one of the New Orleans Saints visit to Foxboro for joint practices against the Patriots, and so far it's what's being described by fans on hand on Twitter as a "mob scene" in Foxboro, as quite a crowd is on hand to take in today's events.
Security was reportedly tight this morning as fans arrived at Gillette Stadium, which is to be expected since two NFL teams will be out on the practice fields. There's also a celebrity in Foxboro today, with Bon Jovi on hand to take in today's practices.
One point mentioned by Jeff Howe on Twitter is the fact that since the starters only get a limited amount of time during preseason games, these three sessions should likely be more exciting and competitive than a normal exhibition game. That should be fun for fans who are there to take it in, but more importantly it gives the players plenty of opportunities to get more snaps against real competition from guys who they haven't been lining up against over the past week.
Belichick said yesterday that these couple of days will give them a good opportunity to work on some things, and should also provide them with some excellent competition - especially considering the fact that the Saints are the defending champs.
"They were the best football team in the NFL last year," said Belichick. "We know that they're a great football team and it will be a good opportunity for us to compete against somebody that we know has a high quality of performance, coming off a great year."
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