Projo Pats Blog

Bill Belichick just wrapped his press conference in front of a sparse crowd -- apparently there weren't a lot of us willing to roll out of bed this Sunday morning -- and touched on a few topics of interest.

** He noted that the coaching staff took the day off mostly for planning purposes as it enters the second week of training camp and beyond. Belichick said the team is "pretty close to" the schedule that was initially laid out and fairly close to where it should be in terms of progress.

** Lamont Jordan, who has been with the team now for a week, will get a few more reps as his familiarity with the offense and playbook has increased.

** In terms of the three quarterbacks behind Tom Brady, Belichick said it hasn't been decided yet how mych each will play in Thursday's preseason opener against the Ravens, but individually, Matt Cassel has had a good spring and good start to training camp; Matt Gutierrez is "as hard a working player as we have on this team. It will be interesting to see 'Goot' play with a year under his belt"; and Kevin O'Connell has "made a lot of improvement since the spring. He seems a lot more comfortable and confident.

** While there have been benefits to the fluidity of the offensive line this season, in that players who generally play just one position and therefore go against the same opponents day after day are facing other players and can be evaluated against a higher number of players, Belichick did mention that "it would be nice if we didn't have quite as much movement as we've had in there. (But) we just have to do what we can do."

The Patriots will be on the fields behind Gillette Stadium for today's practice beginning at 2:30 p.m. It is open to the public as long as the weather cooperates.

 Tags  bill belichick Kevin O'Connell lamont jordan matt cassel matt gutierrez training camp

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