Coach turns around talk
Time with Texans a non-issue
PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK
FOXBORO — There are just 36 days separating the Patriots from preseason and regular-season meetings with the Houston Texans, but coach Bill Belichick doesn’t view the short turnaround as a big deal.
As the Pats hold joint practices with the Texans today and tomorrow in West Virginia ahead of Saturday’s exhibition in Houston, there may be concern in some corners about revealing too much or allowing a future opponent to get a better read on you. Not for Belichick.
Belichick yesterday quickly shut down questions regarding the short span of time in part because of the familiarity between the two teams. With several ties to the Patriots on the Texans coaching staff, perhaps there isn’t much that would surprise either team.
Yet even if those connections didn’t exist, the teams have played each other three times in the last two years, including twice last year, once in the regular season and again in the playoffs.
“I think this is another event that’s hyped up by a lot more of the people who are watching it than the people who are involved with it,” Belichick said. “It’s not what the middle of August is about. It’s about building your team’s conditioning, building your team’s fundamentals, building your team’s awareness, having them learn to play together with each other against good competition.
“That’s what we’re going to do this week. We’re not going to show them our triple reverse and they’re not going to show their triple safety blitz and a bunch of other garbage. That’s not what this is about. It wouldn’t be about that with any team, but it’s certainly not about that with these guys.”
It is unusual, though, that the Patriots face an opponent in the preseason and the regular season in the same year. Aside from the New York Giants, who annually play the Pats in preseason finale with mostly back-of-the-roster players, it’s only happened once in the 10 years. In 2013, the Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers held joint practices, played in the preseason and again in the regular season.
When it comes to the Texans, it’s a little bit different, but Belichick isn’t looking at this week as more than it is, even with former assistants and players running the show in Houston.
“(Texans coach) Bill (O'Brien) and (defensive coordinator) Mike (Vrabel) probably know our calls as well as we know them, and I’m sure we know a lot of the ones that they use because they’re the same ones that we use,” Belichick said.
Mitchell catches up
For the first time since the start of training camp, Malcolm Mitchell got some reps in competitive team drills. The second-year wide receiver began camp as a full participant, but had been limited since the first day of camp for unknown reasons.
The work yesterday was his first in 11-on-11 drills since July 27. On one play, he burned cornerback Stephon Gilmore and safety Devin McCourty down the left sideline to haul in a deep ball from Tom Brady.
“I’m just coming in, trying to practice and prepare just like everyone else has been,” Mitchell said. “Obviously, I wasn’t out there 100 percent of the time. Today was the first time I got to run around, have fun and be with the team.” . . .
A year ago, Jonathan Jones was an undrafted rookie trying to make the team. Now, after making an impact as a special teams gunner, the cornerback is trying to find a bigger role on defense.
There’s a lane for opportunity for Jones behind Gilmore, Malcolm Butler and Eric Rowe, but he knows there’s more work to do. He continued a nice camp by breaking up a pass thrown by Brady.
“I have a lot to work on and when you look at the film there is always room for improvement,” Jones said. “The thing with cornerback is there will never be a complete game but you try to get better and try to make plays.”
Davis adds depth
The Pats added some depth to the edge of the defensive line with the Saturday signing of rookie free agent Keionta Davis, a twotime All-American at Tennessee-Chattanooga.
“We’ve done quite a bit of work on him,” Belichick said. “I worked him out at Chattanooga myself in March. I mean, he’s a good player. I don’t think he’s any secret. We were able to add him to our roster. We’ll just go forward with it and see how it goes.” . . .
Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy and his family were special guests at practice.