Pats relish joint practices
New England finishes up week in Philadelphia by playing Eagles
FOXBORO — Bill Belichick is not too shy upon leaning on the shoulders of the veteran members of the New England Patriots to lend their expertise.
Belichick indicated in a conference call before practice at Gillette Stadium that as well as the team has progressed, there are countless yards yet to be gained.
A defensive back like Devin McCourty. Linebackers like Don’t’a Hightower, Matt Judon and Kyle Van Noy all have key roles in developing the roster.
“They can handle a lot more,” Belichick said of their roles in assisting younger players, free agents and rookies. “Adjustments, and things like that on the field. Once you see your offense come out of the huddle and see where guys are aligned and what formation they’re in.
“You (veterans) know a lot more than you do when you call the defense on the sidelines. “So Devin (McCourty) in the back end and (Dont’a) Hightower have years of experience. Ja’Whaun (Bentley), Kyle (Van Noy), Matt (Judon).
“It certainly helps to have players with the experience. “Then they just have to understand what the tools are and when to use which tool and make sure we’re all on the same page with it.”
With Matt Patricia back as a senior advisor and former Patriot Jerod Mayo as the linebackers coach, having and playing experienced linebackers can make a difference for the performance of the defense.
“They can just do a lot more than guys with less experience for the most part,” Belichick added.
Practicing against another team rather than teammates can have its advantages.
“The game plan is practice, like that’s better than running off cards,” Belichick said of the live preparation. “We’ll see exactly what we need to see from them. They’ll see it from us, and that is the scouting report. The game plan will flow off of that.
“The game plan in preseason is pretty minimal anyway. I don’t think there’s a lot to game plan for — teams basically running their main stuff.
“They’re not running it specifically for you, (but) things we need to work on. May or may not be what they would call an issue in a normal game anyway, but they need it to be ready for the season.
“This is really just a good opportunity to see those things quickly, without knowing exactly what’s coming as a coach, figure it out, explain it to the players if it needs to be explained, and then make the right adjustment to handle it.”
The Patriots yielded just one TD in each half against Washington. However, Washington did convert 12 of 20 third-down situations, amass nearly 400 yards (367) of offense, rush for over 100 yards (122), have eight more first downs (24-16) and nine minutes more in ball-possession time.
“Some of those things we continue to address,” Belichick added. “Some of it will be improvement and corrections. Some of it will be some new things that we just have to move ahead with.
“Whatever it is, it will be good for us, as coaches, to see it, adjust to it, make some adjustments on the field on Monday and Tuesday when the practices are a little bit different,” Belichick said of the workouts against the Eagles.
“Some of our plays, some of our periods are scripted, so we kind of know what’s coming just so we can pick the matchup that we want to coach off of, but this is more of a game-like situation from that standpoint. It’ll be good for all of us.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to show some improvement, see a new team, see some new matchups, see some things that we haven’t seen before. Not just in a game, but obviously in practice as well.
“We’re looking forward to the opportunity to move our football team ahead and improve it. It’s a good opportunity for all of us — coaches, players, staff to go on the road, work on the road, work together and smooth out some of our operational things that will come up over the course of the year.
“Ultimately the benefits of working against the Eagles for two solid days I think will more than make up for whatever inconvenience there is.”
Notes: The Patriots announced Sunday that they have released three players in anticipation of the Aug. 17 mandatory roster cut-down to 85 players. The team released D/TE Rashod Berry, WR Marvin Hall and TE David Wells.