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September 6, 2006

Wednesday first look

Hey all --

With the first game of the season on the horizon, Tom Brady making his weekly appearance, the conference calls with Bills coach Dick Jauron and running back Willis McGahee, and free lunch (!) on the docket today, the media workroom here at Gillette has been packed.

Lunch, by the way, was a cookout featuring the new Patriots Gridiron Grillers hot dogs, sausages and bratwurst. Perhaps you've heard that New England will be serving them at concession stands at Gillette and they're also available at your local grocery store?? They're threatening to banish us if we don't spread the word, so please make sure you let Mr. Kraft know I did my part.

Okay, on to the events of today: Bill Belichick was asked about the emphasis he put on fundamentals during training camp, the progress of Doug Gabriel and Jonathan Smith in learning the offense, the importance of divisional games, being a special-teams coach and the benefits of the two tight end set, among other things.

About Gabriel and Smith: "They've worked hard; they're practically living here. We got a cot for them (laughter from the media). They've spent a lot of time with Brian (Daboll, receivers coach) and the offensive coaches. There's progress, but there's a long way to go. Seeing things in the meeting room and on the field are two different things. But they're both smart, they work hard, they have a good idea of football concepts."

On special teams coaching: "It's an interesting position, in that you deal with every position on the team, except quarterback. You deal with different personalities, different learning styles. You're trying to fit everything together a certain way for plays that are relatively disorganized once the ball leaves the kicker's foot.

"Being a special teams coach is probably one of the best learning things I had to (prepare to) be a head coach. It's a great position on the team because you're working with a degree of autonomy. I think being a special teams coach prepared me to be a head coach better than being a defensive coordinator in a lot of ways."

One of the advantages of the two tight end set, he said, is that it makes things tough for the defense because they can't overload one side for the strong side, since there are three-man sides on each side of the ball.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 1:25 PM | Permalink