FOXBORO, MA — Football is back in New England, and Tuesday was day one of the Patriots mini camp. The two-a-day sessions will run until Sunday, and after that the team will break until they reconvene for training camp at Bryant College in July.
Class was in session Tuesday morning with new head coach Bill Belichick doing the teaching. He’ll attempt to educate the rookies as well as the veterans on his offensive and defensive schemes, but initially he says that currently the team is primarily working in groups in order to try and familiarize themselves with eachother.
“We’re trying to do a lot of group work,” said Belichick. “[We’re not doing] a lot of individual time but [instead we’re] trying to get people working with eachother so they can understand the system and their different responsibilities, and how things sort of fit together. That’s probably the main objective of the camp, that and not getting anybody hurt.”
“One of the main reasons for doing this camp is so that everybody will have a chance to adjust and become familiar. We’re trying to get into a routine in terms of a practice schedule, and try to get organized as to how we can most efficiently use everybody out there on the field.”
With a new system being put in place for the third time in four years, the players will have to put in a lot of time both on and off the field in order to learn the system, along with trying to grasp what they are doing. Belichick feels that both the veterans and the rookies are in the same situation in regard to starting over again with new offensive and defensive schemes, and he is expecting quite an effort both on and off the field.
“The players have new coaches and in some cases new teammates, as well as a new system to get adjusted to. Coaches have new players to get used to working with, but there is a lot of transition for everyone that is involved here. I don’t think anybody in the entire organization that’s on the field is doing what they did last year without some adjustments to it.”
“I told the players back on March 15th that the evaluation process had started. It’s a very encompassing evaluation, it’s not just one play, one day, or one thing. It’s a continued evaluation, and clearly mini-camp is an extension of that. They’re getting a lot of information, and I’ve told them what they need to do in this camp is to work both on and off the field. Just going out there and giving good effort on the field really won’t be enough because we’ve given them so much material that they’ll need to spend extra time either in between practices, or at night on their own at some point to keep up with it, otherwise they’ll fall behind. We’re not going to be here for a long time. We’re trying to be quick on and off [the field] and utilize our time well, so it’s going to take some effort on their part. The one’s who put it in will be further ahead than the ones that don’t.”
Every member of the team was present on Tuesday, with the exception of two players Dave Stachelski, and Henry Thomas. Belichick says that Stachelski is home in Idaho nursing a knee injury he sustained during the passing camp several weeks ago, but the injury doesn’t appear to be serious and he’s hoping to have him back in action by the time training camp begins. As for Henry Thomas, things don’t look good for the veteran. Belichick certainly appeared displeased about his absence, and it appears that Thomas’ days in New England are numbered with the June 1 deadline quickly approaching.
“He was here for a short time,” Belichick said of Henry Thomas. “He’s made his choice as to how he wants to handle the offseason. I think he can speak for that.”
Another player who will be under great scrutiny between now and the end of training camp is offensive lineman Ed Ellis, who left NFL Europe to the dismay of both the fans and head coach Bill Belichick. It appears that Ellis still has a chance to compete for a spot on the team, and Belichick says that he’ll be watching to see how committed Ellis really is.
“This [mini camp] is part of [his evaluation],” said Belichick on Ellis. “We’ll see how he handles it and what kind of commitment he’s willing to make. I would say we certainly have a ways to go on that one.”
Overall Belichick was pleased with the effort the team put in during the offseason. He didn’t talk about any players that he was impressed by, and said jokingly that he doesn’t see any All-Pros just yet.
“Overall I think the team has worked very hard in the offseason,” said Belichick. “The participation has been good, the results have been good. I think we’ve made alot of progress in that area. The point that I stressed to the team back in March was that there are a lot of things in football that you can’t control, but there are some things that you can and one of them is our preparation from March 15th until the start of the season. We have a high number of players (over 90%) that know what they’re doing. Then there’s some people who haven’t made that strong of a commitment. It’s a fairly small number, and I’m disappointed in those who haven’t responded to what we asked them to do in March. Overall it’s been good, it could be better.”
“I think it’s a little premature to judge anyone out there, particularly for what we’re doing. This is so much of a learning and teaching camp that the main thing you want to see is how quickly the players pick up what you’re asking them to do. There’s going to be a timing process with any of the skilled positions on offense and defense, of footwork, adjustments, particularly on offense. We have a lot of different quarterbacks out there, new plays and that type of thing. Overall I’m pleased with the way that the team has responded with what we’ve asked them to do. I don’t think there are any players out there who deserve to be singled out one way or the other, we’re just not at that point right now.”
“We have no All Pros here in May.”
AT A GLANCE – Some highlights worth noting: Wide receiver Tony Simmons lined up opposite Terry Glenn at the wide receiver position. Runningback J.R. Redmond took his fair share of hand offs from Drew Bledsoe, and Eric Bjornson caught quite a few passes from #11 as well. Defensively Jeff Marriott was seen lining up alongside Chad Eaton on the defensive line.
On J’Juan Cherry – “The evaluation at this point was that with that situation, I just didn’t think it was going to work out. It wasn’t based on any one incident or any one play or any one event, it was based on a period of time where things transpired and I just didn’t think it was going to work out. So we’re moving on, and it will give him an opportunity to catch on with somebody and move on as well.”
On Lance Scott – “I think he’s on schedule (to recover). When we signed him we anticipated that there would still be some rehabilitation time for him. In talking to Burt [Zarrins] and Ron [O’Neil], everybody feels he’s on schedule. I know he’s working hard [to be ready for July], there’s no specific date. I don’t think you can put a date on an injury like that on when a guy is going to be ready to play. I know he’s making steady progress.”
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
