OPENING STATEMENT:
Start off by just extending my personal condolences to the Cappelletti family … you know to Sandy [Cappelletti – Gino’s wife], and on behalf of the team as well.
Gino was just a great person. Had a great passion for the Patriots and for football. I was very fortunate to get to work with Gino when I came here. He interviewed me every week. He had trouble with that tape machine…but they kept changing it on him. But he was a great friend and was also a close friend with Joe Bellino so that was a great connection there. Just our condolences to his family and appreciation for all that Gino did as a player, a coach, talking to the former players here, just … 10 years in the AFL, never missed a game, MVP, leading scorer, just an incredible career.
Transitioning to our newest Patriots Hall of Fame selection, Vince [Wilfork]. Congratulations to him. Certainly well-deserved. With Vince and [Richard] Seymour, you’ve got a pretty good defensive line in that Hall of Fame now. Those are two cornerstones up front. Vince was great both on and off the field. Very athletic guy for his size and stature and he was a great leader here and still is. Was good to see him last year and hopefully, he’ll be around.
And just go C’s tonight. A big one. Two great teams and obviously two great guys at the top with Brad [Stevens] and Pat Riley. Those two put together two great teams and I’m sure it’ll be a battle. But, gotta go with the hometown guys.
Good to get on the field today with our group. We’ve had the phase two sessions, which have been productive. Players have done well there but now we’re moving along, moving ahead. It’s a long process here. We’ve got a long way to go. Working a lot of people, we’re doing some basic fundamental things here. Not trying to over evaluate anything, we’re just trying to get everybody comfortable with what they’re doing. We’ll have plenty of time for that here as we go. But it’s good to get out on the field. It’ll be good to be able to see us actually go out there and work against each other a little bit … make some corrections and teach and improve and move forward. That’s where we’re at today.
Like the hat?
I like it.
Tells him to puff it out a little bit so the logo shows a little more.
[Fixes his hat and smiles]
This is voluntary …
That’s right.
On how he’d categorize this level of participation …
Yeah, I mean, it is what it is.
On if he’s happy with it …
Well, the guys that are here are working hard and I think they’re all improving. Those other guys that aren’t here, I’m sure they’re working too. That’s the way it is with every team in this league.
On what it’s been like working with the coaches on the other side of the ball so far …
Good. Yeah, I mean, I work with all the coaches. Just try to be involved in everything. I think that’s the head coach’s job, support all parts of the program.
On if those jobs have been specified with Joe Judge and Matt Patricia and if those guys have titles …
Do we have titles? Yeah, look, there’s a lot of jobs we have to do. We’re all working on those things. It’s May. They’ll change in June, they’ll change in August, they’ll change in September. We’ll evolve and do the things timely that we need to do. I mean, if you’re asking about game plans, we’re, like, months away from that. Months.
On the fact both guys were asked about the playcaller role …
Months away. Months. What plays are we calling? Minicamp plays?
Maybe…I don’t know.
Yeah…O.K. Yeah.
We’re going to coach the team, coach the players, we’re going to get them ready to go. We’re going to game plan when we have to game plan, we’ll play call, we’ll do all the things that we need to do and compete in games. But we’re months away from that.
On if there’s a time where the guy who has that role will get time to prepare? …
Yeah, of course.
On if he has that date in his mind …
No.
On if he knows who will call the offensive plays or if there’s a process he’s going to let play out …
Yeah, when we get to it, we’ll get to it.
On if [the media] are making too much out of the playcalling because from the outside looking in, the guy who sends in the plays is the one who works with the quarterback, learning what he likes and getting used to the rhythm of it …
Well, that’ll all happen.
On what the greatest attribute he likes to see from a play-caller is …
Yeah … I don’t know. We’re all different. Execution of the plays, I think, are a lot more important than the plays themselves. I’ve called them. I’ve not called them. I’ve called them and I’ve not called them. So has everybody else.
On the fact [Tom Curran] watched NFL Network the night before about the discussion of Joe Montana and the 49ers scripting out the first 15 plays and they were down 21-0 [1984 Game]…
Thanks for reminding me about that game. It was good.
On it was good insight into, who is going to put together that script? Is it a collaboration, is it one guy? That’s why we’re intrigued by it …
Yeah, and I’m sure every staff is different. I’m sure on some staffs, one person puts it together and I’m sure on another staffs, there’s probably 5, 6, 7 people working on it. I’m sure Bill [Walsh] had the final say on the script for the 49ers, but I think there was a lot of input there just like there was with Mike [Shanahan] and Alex Gibbs in Denver, Howard [Mudd] and Tony [Dungy] and Peyton [Manning] and whoever did it at Indianapolis. And I wasn’t on those staffs, so I couldn’t really tell you.
On whether or not Josh McDaniels did all of it …
Yeah, I mean here we are, Josh was here for, I don’t know, 15 years. Which game do you want to talk about? Which year are we talking about here? Like, I don’t know …
The last seven games of 2021 …
Yeah, exactly.
On how he coaches a coach who hasn’t called the plays before and how he simulates that so they can have comfort when it comes time to be the guy who calls the plays …
Yeah, some of the things we do in training camp.
On whether or not it’s an option for him to call offensive plays this year…
I’ve called them and I haven’t called them. And other people have called them and they haven’t called them. So, we’ll see.
On the fact they’re not going to over evaluate anything and what will make this a successful day on the field…
Well, we’ve got a lot of players working out there and so individually, you know, we want each player to try to improve. It’s an opportunity for us to work together in units and as a team in various forms. So hopefully we can improve as units and improve from a smaller unit to a bigger offensive, defensive, special teams, unit. Start with all fundamentals. I mean, we’re working on a lot of things out there. Individuals need to get better. Our groups and units need to get better. So we can make progress in all those areas.
On the development of players from a strength and conditioning standpoint, particularly last year’s rookie calls, what his impressions are with that, specifically Mac Jones…
Well, again, it’s like anything else. The player that works hard and puts a lot into it will get a lot out of it. We have a good program, had a lot of success with our program. Guys that put a lot into it see a lot of results. Some players are more naturally gifted than others but regardless, if you put in hard training, then you’ll get those results.
So the guys that are here, I’d say that’s really what the guys that are here are trying to do. Trying to improve their strength, their conditioning, their explosiveness, their flexibility, their habits in training. That’s what they’re here for and I’d say they’ve all made a lot of progress.
On without pads on, how does he evaluate how linemen are improving …
Like I said, this isn’t really that big of an evaluation, especially at those positions. It’s teaching, it’s instruction, it’s understanding how to do things. There will be an evaluation period and that’s when we’ll really see how that looks. We’re not going to be able to do that out here, for sure.
Support Us: Help Us Compete Against The Corporate Media Giants
We need your help. If you enjoy our content, please help us beat Google's Corporate algorithm by adding us as a preferred source on Google News.
Click the button below and check the box next to "PatsFans.com"
Add as a preferred source on Google News
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.
