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Belichick's comments on Bill Walsh

Hey all --

The following are comments released by the Patriots from Bill Belichick on former San Francisco head coach Bill Walsh, who died today at 75 from leukemia. Belichick was the linebackers coach and defensive coordinator for the New York Giants when Walsh's 49ers were the dominant team in the NFL.

"One of the greatest challenges of my career was coaching defense against Bill Walsh. He turned San Francisco’s offense into the best in the league. Beyond being a great offensive coach, Bill mastered running an entire pro football organization. He figured out everything from the big picture down to the smallest detail and documented it in his book, Finding The Winning Edge, which was groundbreaking. It remains easily the most comprehensive and best modern day football book and is required reading for every coach. On a personal level, I am very fortunate to have developed a close friendship with Bill and my deepest condolences are with his family on this sad day."

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 7:40 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Scott to IR

Earlier today, Bill Belichick said Chad Scott was day-to-day. But that quickly became no day soon, as the team just announced that the veteran cornerback has been placed on season-ending injured reserve with a left knee injury.

Scott was injured late in Friday's evening practice, trying to break up a pass intended for C.J. Jones.

With Asante Samuel still holding out, Scott was a likely starter opposite Ellis Hobbs.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 6:36 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Belichick: Experience as special teams coach was invaluable

Belichick, who began his 12-year tenure with the New York Giants in 1979 by serving as both a defensive assistant and special teams coach under Ray Perkins, talked yesterday about how invaluable his stint as a special teams coach proved to be in preparing him to one day become a head coach.

``There’s a certain mentality that goes along with the different positions and then all people are different, too, so the good thing about being a special teams coach is you deal with all the players every week,’’ he said ``It was a great experience and really prepared me for dealing with the whole team and not just one specific group. I’m glad I did it.

``It always surprises me when I think about how few head coaches are picked from the special teams coaches,’’ Belichick added, noting that many offensive and defensive coordinators only have an opportunity to work with half of the team.

He pointed to Dick Vermeil, who guided both the Philadelphia Eagles and the St. Louis Rams to Super Bowl Championships, as another example of a head coach who began by working with special teams. (He became the NFL’s first full-time special teams coach when George Allen appointed him to the position for the Los Angeles Rams in 1969.)

Posted by Carolyn Thornton  at 6:18 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Gay wants spot based on merit, not be default

With Chad Scott still sidelined by the injury he suffered during one of the first training camp practice sessions, Randall Gay was once again playing the corner opposite Ellis Hobbs this afternoon.

Although Scott’s injury may be opening the door for Gay, he insists he is not looking at it that way.

``Right now I’m just looking at it the same way I came to camp. I’m just out here trying to get me a start,’’ said the 25-year-old Louisiana native, who played just five games in 2005 because of an ankle injury and then made only three appearances last season because of a pulled hamstring. ``I’m not looking at (Scott’s injury) as [giving Gay] any more of a chance. My mind set coming in was, `Earn your position,’ not get it by default. Just work hard so the coaches will have faith in me to put me out there to play.’’

``I feel great,'' added Gay, when asked how training camp has gone for him so far. ``Like I said when the offseason started, I was ready to go. I was prepared, healthy and ready for the season to start. Now it’s here and (I’m) feeling good.''

Posted by Carolyn Thornton  at 5:21 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Afternoon wrap

Hey all --

Thunder and lightning have descended on Gillette Stadium, the threat of which chased us off the field as the media was wrapping up player interviews.

It was an active practice session today, the sixth of training camp. In the early going, Bam Childress muffed a punt and immediately dropped to the turf and did some push-ups, to the delight of the crowd.

Tom Brady also played to the fans, who clapped when he and quarterbacks Matt Cassel and Matt Gutierrez walked toward the north end of the field. Brady put his arms above his head and applauded back.

As an aside, Gutierrez seems to be working extremely hard. Even though he's a longshot at best to make the active roster -- especially considering reports that say Vinny Testaverde will be back once two-a-days are over in a couple of weeks -- we've noticed that he's been the last player off the field every day. We wonder if he's watching tape of himself run the scout team like another former Michigan rookie...

Reche Caldwell, fighting for his job despite leading the team in receptions last year, made a nice one-handed catch from Cassel along the sideline; Kevin Faulk made a great downfield catch as well, with Ellis Hobbs and Tedy Bruschi in coverage. Faulk may not have landed inbounds had the play gone to review, but it was pretty regardless.

Oscar Lua update: it seems the rookie linebacker is a fan favorite, and today we tried to keep an eye on him. He was in a group of players working on punt blocking (along with Larry Izzo, Kelley Washington, Larry Anam, Corey Mays, Sammy Morris, Pierre Woods and Justin Rogers) and when he was on the field with the sub defense, he lined up at both inside linebacker spots. During 11-on-11 drills, he got stood up and sealed twice on run plays.

Junior Seau, lined up over Matt Light, jumped offsides and immediately raised his hand and took off on a punishment lap. Seau also spent a great deal of time about 30 yards behind the line of scrimmage when the first-team defense was on for 11-on-11, trying to get a good view of what was happening.

Brady completed a long pass to Randy Moss downfield. Gemara Williams seemed to have good position on Moss, but as Moss is at least 8 inches taller, he simply reached over Williams' head and grabbed the ball. On another play, Moss cut inside for a post route and Brady threw to the sideline; the ball fell dead.

Tomorrow is another day with two sessions planned, beginning at 8:45 a.m.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

K. Brown makes his debut

Hey all -

Kareem Brown's suspension has indeed ended, as he is on the field with the rest of the defensive linemen.

The rest of the attendance is basically the same as it has been: Laurence Maroney, Junior Seau and Eric Alexander are all still wearing red non-contact jerseys, the PUP players and Kyle Brady, Garrett Mills and Chad Scott are among the missing.

Members of the UConn coaching staff are today's guests after Oklahoma coaches took in the previous two days.

The players are in full pads.

We'll have more shortly.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 2:36 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Veteran James gaining respect

More on Belichick's early impressions of veteran cornerback Tory James:

Journal photo/Bob Breidenbach
Patriots running back #44 Heath Evans pals around with #28 Tory James after a play

``We played against Tory when he was at Cincinnati, Oakland. We’ve gone up against him a number of times. Our system, I think, is a little bit different definitely then what they played in Cincinnati last year - they’re much more of a blitz zone team – but I think he’s done well. He’s a smart guy, he’s very professional, he’s well prepared, he’s on top of it, and I think he’s earning the respect of everybody by the way he goes about things. (He’s) a tall guy, got some cover skills, has some speed. Sort of a hard guy to throw the ball over for the quarterbacks in cover two and things like that when he’s out there in the flat and in the short area. He’s a bigger guy to get the ball over.’’

Posted by Carolyn Thornton  at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Communication with a capital ``C''

Expanding a bit more on some of Belichick's comments regarding the team's ongoing focus on communication during this morning's meeting with the media:

``It’s just making sure that everybody that’s involved in the play sees the play the same way. Whether it’s the offensive line seeing the front the same, or a blocker and a runner seeing the defender the same to know where the ball’s going to go, or a receiver and a quarterback, or two defensive backs, or a defensive back and a linebacker covering a pattern just so we see it

``Sometimes we can communicate it; sometimes we just have to see it the same way and recognize it the same, so it’s a different type of communication. There’s verbal communication, there’s hand signals and then there’s just visual recognition. And there’s an element of communication in that, too.’’

Posted by Carolyn Thornton  at 1:37 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Chatting with Belichick

Hey all --

Yes, we're a bit tardy with this, but the lure of a lunch of baked macaroni and cheese and pulled pork made us forget all about being blogger-on-the-spot when it came to Bill Belichick's morning press conference.

The coach, who seems pretty upbeat here in the early going of camp, quipped that it's "another day in paradise" as he opened things up.

He was asked about communication, which is one of the themes of this camp given the high number of new, impact faces in the meeting rooms, but Belichick said communication and fundamentals are of equal importance.

"They're neck and neck. They're both really important," he said. "We talk about those every day. More than every day."

Veteran cornerback Tory James, who picked off Tom Brady in yesterday's morning session, has earned the respect of his teammates with his work ethic and approach to learning a new system, Belichick said.

He was asked about wide receivers coach Nick Caserio, who has returned to the team's coaching staff after four years in the personnel department as a scout and director of pro personnel. Though he has technically been in the front office, Belichick said Caserio, who started with the Patriots seven years ago as a personnel assistant and then an offensive coaching assistant, has always had a hand in the coaching.

"He's had a number of different responsibilities; he's stayed pretty close to the whole operation. He filled in when Ivan (Fears, running backs coach) was out last year during training camp."

Fears missed a few weeks last season due to medical issues.

Belichick spoke at length about his time as a special teams coach, which is how he spent seven of his first eight years in the league, with Detroit, Denver and the Giants. "It was one of the most valuable experiences I had in preparing me for becoming a head coach" because he got to work with just about every player on the team and all the positions and personalities that came with it.

As for corner Chad Scott, who hurt his left knee on Friday, Belichick said he's "day-to-day." Asked if that means Scott hasn't yet been diagnosed with a serious injury, he said, "he's being evaluated on a daily basis. Some players who are day-to-day come back the next day; some don't. When we have something definitive to tell you, we will."

Practice starts at 2:30 p.m. One of the things we'll be looking for is to see if rookie Kareem Brown makes his training camp debut. Reportedly, the fourth-round draft pick was suspended for the first three days of camp for violation of a team rule.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments 0

Bum hammy = buh-bye

Hey all --

Apparently, Justise Hairston's release was precipitated by a bad hamstring. According to the Hartford Courant, Hairston's agent, Joe Linta, said the sixth-round draft pick out of Central Connecticut State has a severely pulled hamstring that will likely end his season before it began in earnest.

Hairston can be claimed off waivers by another team, but if he is not, he will likely be placed on New England's injured reserve for the season.

The 6-foot-1 running back, who began his career at Rutgers before transferring to CCSU -- alma mater of Scott Pioli -- led the nation in rushing last year.

shalise

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments 0