Projo Pats Blog

It appears veteran safety John Lynch will soon be a member of the New England Patriots.

Although the team has not made an official announcement, various news outlets were reporting last night that the free agent will be joining the Patriots, with the NFL Network reporting that Lynch had agreed to a one-year $1.5 million deal.

PATRIOTS SIGN ROOKIE OL STEPHEN SENE;

RELEASE FIRST-YEAR WR CHRIS DUNLAP

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots signed rookie offensive lineman Stephen Sene today. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Sene will wear number 64 for the Patriots. Additionally, the Patriots released first-year wide receiver Chris Dunlap.

Sene (pronounced sen-NEH), 24, was originally signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent out of Liberty on May 1, 2008. The 6-foot-6-inch, 310-pound offensive lineman was released by the Rams on July 28. Sene was a two-year starter at tackle for Liberty from 2006-07. He began his collegiate career spending two years at South Carolina, where he played in eight games with two starts before transferring to Dodge City Community College and then to Liberty.

Dunlap, 22, was signed by the Patriots as a free agent on July 21. He was originally signed by the Patriots as an undrafted rookie free agent on May 14, 2007. The 5-foot-11-inch, 200-pound receiver participated in the Patriots' 2007 training camp before being released on Sept. 1, 2007. Dunlap attended Georgia Tech.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK
2008 Training Camp
August 14, 2008

BB: We are rolling along here for Tampa Bay [Buccaneers]. It is kind of like a normal Thursday practice for us today as we are preparing for a Sunday game. As I have said all week, we are excited about playing this team. The challenges they present, going down there and dealing with the elements of the heat in Tampa and so forth. I think this is a really good opportunity for our team. We are looking forward to it. I know there are some reports out there about John Lynch. I can tell you that I met with John yesterday. He came in, we talked and he took a physical. But right now he is not under contract with the [New England] Patriots. Until he is, I won't have any further comment on that other then what I just said, that he was here. If and when that happens, then we will address it but until then I really don't have any other comment on it. That is where we are for today.

Q: Being that it is close to the end of training camp, how does that change your planning for the remainder of camp?

BB: I really don't think we are at the end of it [training camp]. To me, I see it as a transition as opposed to having a start and a stop and something else. With the way the schedule falls, we have those two games back to back with the [Philadelphia] Eagles and the [New York] Giants. Going from a Sunday to Friday and then a Friday to Thursday. That will be two short weeks back to back. That will be a transition for us. This week has been kind of a move from training camp into a little more preparation for the game then we had for Baltimore [Ravens]. We played Tampa Bay last year. They were a playoff team and have the same coaching staff. As opposed to Baltimore, who had new coaches and a new system. We are going to try and emphasize the preparation this week. Not quite to the extent we will for Kansas City [Chiefs] and the regular season but we are heading down that road. I just think it is a natural progression for us. We are trying not to treat it as a big 'It's this and now it's that'. To me, it is more of a phase we are going through. We are still working on a lot of things that we need to work on as a football team that aren't specific to Tampa Bay. They are just general things we need to make progress on to be ready for our season. It is part that and part preparing for Tampa Bay.

Q: Do you like what you have seen from cornerback Antwain Spann so far in camp?

BB: Antwain has had a really good camp. He had a good spring. He has been productive and has shown up on a lot of plays. He has played more at safety but he has been a versatile guy for us by playing inside in sub situations as well as outside. He has had a lot more responsibility as far as making calls and adjustments from the safety spot. He has picked that up pretty well even going back to the spring. Certainly that got him off to a good start and gave him a little momentum and gave him some confidence heading into training camp. He has kind of picked up where he left off in the spring. He has had a good camp. It is still kind of a new deal for him because he really hasn't had a chance to be with us all the way through. He came from Europe coming off the injury last year. This is really the first season where he has had a full off-season with spring camps, training camp and then the regular season. All that is good for him and has helped him. He has taken advantage of the opportunities that he has gotten there.

Q: How has rookie quarterback Kevin O'Connell looked so far and what have you liked about him?

BB: Kevin [O'Connell] has kind of gotten better each day. He is making a big transition from college to the NFL. He is going from a shotgun offense to an offense that is less than 50 percent shotgun. In addition, there are a lot of other differences with the reads, terminology and so forth. Kevin has gotten better every day. He works hard and is a smart kid. He is a talented athlete because he is big and can run. He has a good arm and pretty good accuracy. There are still a lot of things he has to work on just from a mechanics standpoint, with terminology, learning our system and getting comfortable with the reads and the adjustments. He has made a lot of progress and seems to get better each day. Now that he has a game under his belt with Baltimore, we will see how he does in the next opportunity he gets and what he learned from Baltimore, what new things will happen to him and how he will handle those situations.

Q: Tom Brady said yesterday that the quarterbacks asked you if they could switch to the white jerseys. What was the reasoning behind that and what does it change?

BB: I don't think it changes a whole lot. The red jerseys in training camp are good because of the work that we are doing. We are going at a good tempo and guys are rushing the passer. They may not be as aware of the quarterback in the pocket as what they are after 22 practices and a game. You just don't want people falling into the quarterback when they are throwing which is a pretty unprotected position for them. I think the red jersey is easier for everybody to identify but now that we are down that road I think we have enough experience to know where everybody is, what the tempo is, when to pull off and those types of things. Not just for the quarterbacks but in a lot of areas like playing the ball or potential collisions. We try to save those for the game and not blow each other up in practice.

Q: Does it help when you face a team like Tamp Bay in the preseason that run similar things as your week one opponent Kansas City?

BB: Well sure, I think it gives our players the opportunity to match up against different schemes and different types of players. Like with Baltimore, we faced some guys that were 320, 330 or 340 [pounds] on the defensive line. This week we will face some guys that are a lot smaller than that but faster, quicker, more athletic, that stunt more - that kind of thing. It is a whole different type of player that you are blocking. It is the same thing with some linebackers. There are linebackers that are almost like safeties in some cases. They are faster, quicker, a little bit smaller. Everything happens faster and they do more stunting. They run better and play at the second level faster than some other guys we have faced and even some of our guys in the 3-4. I think that it will be good work for us. We are going to have to face it eventually during the year. It is a good chance for us to evaluate our players on how we do against it. Also, it exposes them to that type of a player and the scheme they use as that type of a player.

Q: At this time of year do you designate a scout team?

BB: Yeah, we will simulate the other team's plays. It is a transitional thing where we work against ourselves some. We start to work against our opponents so we can at least prepare for what they are going to do and have some level of execution at it in the game. We are doing that more this week than we did last week. We will probably do more next week than we are doing this week even though it is a shorter week. That is kind of the natural progression. Some of the things that will come up at the beginning of the season are things that we will have worked on ourselves against each other. They are things that will come up specifically against a certain team. Whether it is an end-of-the-game play, onside kick or some type of deceptive play. Something like that where we will have to fall back on that base to have it covered and to play it properly or run it properly on whatever happens to show up on that situation. We can't prepare for every game with the 100 or so situations there are. We just have to go through those generically. When they come up, hopefully we are prepared for those. It is a combination of stuff.

Q: Cornerback Jason Webster has been out for a while. Is he still a mystery to you or do you have an idea of what he is able to do?

BB: He is day-to-day in terms of coming back. He is getting a little better each day. He is getting better and hopefully it won't be too much longer. The one good thing is that Jason [Webster] had a good off-season and was at all the spring camps and mini camps. We had a good opportunity to work with him there at a couple of different spots. Of course it would be good to have him and every other player back on the field. I am sure he is working hard to get back and when he is ready he will be back out there. Hopefully that will be soon. It is unfortunate with the time that he is missing. We have worked with him some but with him out that provides opportunities for other players. We will evaluate them. We just have to do the best that we can with the information that we have. It is not perfect but that is all there is.

Q: You have talked before about the importance of team defense working together on run coverage. However, at this time of year you are rotating independently. At some point, do you need to start only rotating as a unit?

BB: We do some work as a unit. At times we try to work units together. Again, there is a balance there. We are trying to get the right balance between working the guys who you think are going to play together or that you hope are going to work together, versus who is actually playing. There are some players with less experience, that if they are out there with a less experienced group it sometimes looks like a little bit of a fire drill and everybody struggles. If you put that less experienced player with a more experienced group then a lot of things fall into place for him and he gets a little bit of help. It is just a smoother operation. There is a place for both. There is a place for experienced guys being together, there is a place for inexperienced guys to be together and there is place for a mixture for those two to join forces. That is where the older guys don't always just rely on other experienced guys around them. At the same time, they learn how to work with inexperienced guys and inexperienced guys learn how to work with guys who have a little more anticipation and knowledge of the situation that is coming up. They can help the less experienced players. I think that is kind of good for everybody and that is what training camp is for. At some point, we will boil that down to the people who are going to work together. The people who won't play as much will get some work but not the same percentage. That is like everything else in training camp. You have players who have a lot of experience and other guys who have very little experience. You try to blend it all together. Some guys need one thing and other guys need other things. Some guys need more work in the passing game. Some guys need more work in the running game. Some positions have larger numbers. Some positions have smaller numbers. There is a lot of juggling going on through camp to try and maximize the benefits of each practice and each drill for the entire team. At some point, you have to get the team that is ready to play out there and start getting them ready to play. You have to kind of move on and in some cases leave some people behind. At some point you just have to get ready to play. Obviously, that day is a lot closer now then it was at the start of training camp. That is where we are headed.

Q: How have the guys you added since training camp started progressing so far without the benefit of the mini camps and not much preparation?

BB: Overall, fairly well. Considering that we have a pretty sophisticated system and there are a lot of things going on. It is not like coming in during the season where you are just looking at a game plan for what we are going to do against a particular team. You are coming into a situation where you kind of have to learn everything in the playbook and not only learn a lot of plays but also how they are against a lot of possibilities on the other side of the ball. The other side has just as many plays as we are learning. You add those up and it is a lot. All things considered, I think those guys have done a pretty good job of being able to go in there and at least function and run the stuff that we are doing. Sometimes you get in a situation where you have a player like that coming in and he just isn't able to get out there with the rest of the team because he just doesn't have enough background on what he is doing. We really haven't had too much of that considering the number of players brought in since the start of training camp. It has been surprisingly good.

Q: Would you say it is harder to come in during the middle of training camp as opposed to coming in during the season?

BB: Yeah, in one respect it is harder because there is more. We have a lot more plays in now than we would ever have in for a game plan. We also have to run those plays against a lot more things than we would ever have to run against in a game plan. So we have to run them against our 3-4 defense. We have to run them against Tampa Bay's 4-3 defense. We have to run them against Baltimore, and all the stuff they did on defense. Versus, if we were playing one team in the regular season, well they wouldn't run 4-3, 3-4 and all the Baltimore, Philadelphia and Tampa Bay stuff. If we run that play, we have to be able to execute it against whatever they show up in.

In a season you would boil all that down. The bad part about the season is that when a player comes in, he can learn the game plan and learn how to run them against the team we are playing but then he doesn't have the background of all the fundamentals and a lot of the little things that are important to a play. With the little technique things or minor coaching points that can really make a difference. Now he is just trying to learn 'I block this guy' or 'I run this route' or 'this is who I cover on this play'. There are so many little things that go into it and he doesn't get the benefit of that because he is just trying to learn what to do on that play. It is two different challenges. Coming in and learning the playbook that basically everybody else has learned since the spring against a number of things you have to be able to do it against, that is a big load.

Although the Patriots coach would not go into detail, Bill Belichick confirmed reports that the team had brought veteran safety John Lynch in for a visit this week.

"I can tell you that I met with John yesterday. He came in. We talked. He took a physical. But right now he's not under contract with the Patriots, so until he is, I won't have any further comment on that other than to say what I just said, which is he was here."

A nine-time Pro-Bowler, Lynch has played 15 NFL seasons - the first 11 with Tampa Bay, where he was a member of the Buccaneers' 2002 Super Bowl champion team, and the last 4 with Denver.

The 36-year-old, who had 59 tackles (46 solo) last season, was reportedly unhappy with how his role had evolved with the Broncos in that he had come to be used primarily on first downs, but came off the field on second- and third-down situations.

When he saw that he was being used on a limited basis in the Broncos training camp this summer and that 30-year-old Marlon McCree was seeing more time at safety, Lynch requested his release, which Denver granted on Aug. 1.

This isn't the first time the Patriots have brought Lynch in for a visit. New England was among a number of teams that he visited after Tampa Bay released him in the spring of 2004. At the time, the Bucs said they weren't interested in keeping Lynch, who had undergone shoulder surgery earlier that year, even if he negotiated down his $4.1-million salary for the following season.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK
2008 Training Camp
August 13, 2008

BB: Good morning. This is kind of our day to transition into a little bit of a regular season schedule. It is similar to a normal Wednesday for us with the game on Sunday. It is still training camp, I don't need to say that but the rest of the week will be kind of a normal Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We travel on Saturday and play on Sunday. This is a good chance for us to transition into our regular season routine from an organization and preparation standpoint. It will be similar to the routine we would have getting ready for a game. Our next two games are back to back, so we really don't have an opportunity to do that then. That is part of what we are doing here today. It will be a little bit of a normal Wednesday practice for us.

We are excited about playing Tampa Bay [Buccaneers]. I think it is a great opportunity for us for a lot of reasons. Like I mentioned yesterday, with the quality of their team, our good preseason game with them last year, the scheme they use and going down to play in warm weather will give our conditioning levels a little bit of a challenge. They are a good football team that does a lot of things well. They are well coached and have a lot of good players that know what they are doing. I think our team will get a lot out of this week from a preparation standpoint by playing against the [Buccaneers]. We are looking forward to it and we will try to get off to a good start today and be ready to go Sunday night.

>> Continue reading: Transcript of Belichick's Aug. 13 morning press conference

A few notes from Patriots coach Bill Belichick's morning press conference today at Gillette Stadium:

Given the Pats' upcoming preseason game against Tampa Bay, Belichick says that the team's schedule this week will be similar to a regular-season routine.

"It's kind of a good chance for us to transition a little bit into our regular-season routine from an organizational standpoint and for the players, from a preparation standpoint, kind of the routine that they would have getting ready for a game. Our next two games are back-to-back, they're on real short weeks, so we really don't have an opportunity to do that. So that's part of what we're doing here today."

"I'm excited about playing Tampa," Belichick continued. "I think it's a good opportunity for us for a lot of reasons, like I mentioned yesterday. Just the quality of the team. Had a good preseason game with them last year. The scheme that they use. Going down to warm weather, give our conditioning levels a little bit of a challenge against a good football team that does a lot of things well."

Belichick was asked about the penalty lap that the defensive unit ran toward the end of yesterday's practice:
"That was a mistake they made. It was a team mistake, so everybody thought about it while they ran around the field."

Belichick said he started using penalty laps when he was with the Giants:

"It just gives everybody a chance to think about what happened while they're running around the field. The guys who made the mistake (can) maybe get some advice from the guys who are running that don't feel like running."

When it was suggested that the loud cheers from the crowd while they players were running might be counterproductive in that it might be promoting more mistakes, Belichick replied:
"No, I think the guys that are running don't really care too much about the crowd. I think they're thinking about what just happened and why they're running and maybe trying not to run again. So I think that that cheering kind of goes over their heads. I hope it does anyway."

Asked if he addressed the defensive unit after the lap, Belichick said, "Definitely, I said something to them. It's not what we're looking for and the more those things happen then the laps just keep accumulating. One (lap) today, two tomorrow, four the next day. Eventually, we'll get the message."

Belichick said he is not sure if Matt Gutierrez will be read to practice with the team today. The second-year quarterback has not practiced since last Thursday's game against Baltimore.

"He's day to day," Belichick said. "I'm sure he'll be back out there soon. He's a tough kid and he's working very hard to try to be ready to go, so I don't think it will be too long. But I don't know whether it will be today or not."

When asked if he had gotten hurt against Baltimore, Belichick said he got "a little bruise."

At this very moment, Gutierrez is down on the field at Gillette throwing passes.

At the end of last Friday’s preseason game at Tampa Bay, Tedy Bruschi sought out Mike Allstott. A day earlier, the Bucs’ six-time Pro Bowl fullback had been placed on injured reserve after suffering a season-ending – possibly career-ending – neck injury.

Having seen his own NFL career almost come to a premature end because of the stroke he suffered in 2005, Bruschi said he felt compelled to reach out to Allstott.

``I was watching TV before the game and I had seen news reports on his situation and how he had reinjured his neck and how he had been put on i.r. for the rest of the year, and I just wanted to seek him out and tell him that whatever he decided – because his future, he said he didn’t know what he wanted to do; it was uncertain – I said, whatever he decided, I wished him well, (would) say a little prayer for him and hoped everything worked out for him.

``I think I can relate more to situations like that from what happened to me back in 2005, understand some of the feelings you go through, some of the thought processes you go through. So I could definitely sort of understand where he was coming from.’’

Tedy Bruschi realized what a quick study fellow linebacker Adalius Thomas is within the first couple of training camp practices.

Shown some run-stopping techniques in one session, the newly-acquired Patriot would already be showing marked improvement by the next workout.

``That’s the sign of a good football player,’’ Bruschi said.
``He’s such a good student. He’s picked things up very quickly. The best way I’ve been trying to help him with that process is just every single time he breaks the huddles, going over reminders, saying the defense again, reminding the personnel, the situations, the possible motions, things like that. And he does the same thing with me. That’s the way it has to be. That’s the way it’s always been, whether it’s been (Mike) Vrabel in there or (Roman) Phifer in there or (Ted) Johnson in there. Once you break the huddle, that’s when the communication starts.’’

Shortly after a season ends, Tedy Bruschi has a heart-to-heart conversation with himself.

In a press conference with the media at Gillette Stadium this afternoon, the Patriots'
veteran linebacker asks himself some serious questions, before deciding whether he will put in another year on the gridiron:

``What I do is just see where I am physically and mentally, first of all. I think physically first because you have these aches and pains after the season . . . . You get older and it takes a little longer for things to heal. So is this injury, is this ache and pain, is it a little more serious than I think it is? Is it getting better two weeks, three weeks down the line? Am I starting to think about the off-season program to get ready to play next year? Watching the Super Bowl, does it irritate me to the point where I want to get working again and get ready to go again?"

Bruschi said he answered, ``yes,'' to all of those questions.

``I started to think about the off-season program. I started to get better quickly. So it was just a point of when does the offseason program begin and continue the process.''

Bruschi says that the strength has returned to his right hand, in which he had suffered a broken bone during last year’s training camp: ``The wrist is feeling a lot better. I’m feeling great out there, and I think I’ve seen improvement with myself from the start of camp, which is what all of us want to see and which coach (Bill Belichick) really preaches, about just getting better every day.’’

In addition to preparing to play this fall, Bruschi spent the past off-season working with Michael Holley to complete his new book, Never Give Up: My Stroke, My Recovery, and My Return to the NFL.

Bruschi says his primary reason for writing the book about the stroke that he suffered in February 2005 is to create more awareness about the cardiovascular disease.

``The big thing with me when I had my stroke is that I didn't realize I was having a stroke when I was going through it at the moment. So I would hope this would open some eyes particularly to people of my age group that it can happen.''

Bruschi says that the process of writing the book, which he adds is also his way of responding to the thousands who sent him letters and e-mails of support during the ordeal, was an emotional one.

``Through writing it, I sort of relived it and (thought) to myself, `Man, that was a lot. Wow. How did I get through all of this,’ ‘’ he said. ``Every time I sat down to write the book or discuss the book with Michael . . . . it’s a very emotional book. I talk about my marriage, how the stroke affected my marriage, my emotions coming back. And reliving every single page was sort of emotionally trying at times. That made it difficult in itself.

``What I learned through the whole process of coming back like that,’’ he continued, ``(is that) as professional athletes we think that we’re such big, strong individuals and confident and mentally tough that we can handle everything ourselves. Sometimes you can’t, and you need the help of people, and there are a lot of people that helped me come back.’’

A few notes from Bill Belichick’s morning meeting with the media today at Gillette:

* The Patriots coach says the deal for cornerback Dante Wesley ``kind of came up pretty quickly.’’

As for the team’s plans for him, Belichick added: ``He’s had most of his playing time on special teams [for Carolina and then Chicago], but we’ll look at him as a defensive player, look at him in the game and go from there.’’

(Earlier in the morning, following a brief practice in the Dana-Farber Field House, Wesley says he’s ready for any assignment: ``I’ve always considered myself to be more than a special teams guy. I feel like I can play cornerback, I can play special teams, I can play pretty much, I feel, anywhere on the field. So whatever my opportunity here, whatever they’re going to give me a chance to do, I just want to do my best.’’)

* Regarding New England's first preseason test, Belichick had this to say: ``We’re winding down here on the preparations for Tampa. We have a lot of people to get ready for a lot of different situations, on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game, all of the goal line, short yardage, third down, extra DBs, extra linebackers, extra receivers. We’re just trying to get it all organized and hopefully with everyone who can play will get an opportunity to play. I’d like to see everybody get some action this week. We’ll just have to see how that goes here in the next couple of days, who all that really is and how it shakes out. We’re just trying to get everybody an opportunity to show us what they can do. We’ve had a lot of teaching. We’ve had a lot of practice, seen a lot of blue and white jerseys. We’ll see a different color on Friday and we’ll see how it goes out there.''

* He considers Tampa Bay to be ``a good test’’ for the Patriots. It is a team ``that runs basically a West Coast offense, that runs a 4-3 defense with a lot of movement and zone coverage, but a good dose of man-to-man, that’s well schooled and disciplined on defense and on offense.’’

* Asked for his reaction to Barry Bonds hitting his 756th career home run, Belichick deadpanned: ``That’s a lot of home runs.’’

Asked if he had any thoughts on the controversy surrounding Bonds breaking the record, to a round of laughter Belichick said: ``I’m really focused on the players that are here.’’

``I guess I won’t ask about David Beckham coming to town then,’’ the reporter said, to which Belichick replied, ``Yeah, he’s not here either.’’

Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft and officials from the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association announced yesterday that six of the seven Eastern Massachusetts high school Super Bowls will be played at Gillette Stadium on Dec. 1. The stadium will be provided rent-free.

Due to the threat of inclement weather this morning, the Patriots' morning practice session is going to be moved into the Dana-Farber Field House and will be CLOSED to the public. In addition, the Patriots Experience will not operate until later this afternoon.

At this time, the evening practice is still scheduled from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

The final Patriots Experience of training camp is scheduled to operate from 4:00-6:00 p.m.

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.)

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.''

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.’’

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.’’

Bill Belichick gave his players the day off today before the team jumps into preparations for its third preseason game, Saturday at Gillette Stadium against the Washington Redskins.

As a result, there was also no media availability today, but here is some more of what Belichick had to say in yesterday’s media conference call:

Q: Was there a line of thinking in having Junior Seau dress last night even though he wasn’t going to play? [The veteran linebacker, who played 14 seasons with the Chargers and 3 with the Dolphins, came out of retirement and signed with the Patriots late last week.]

Journal files/Bob Breidenbach
Jason Seau

BB: He was healthy enough to dress, so he dressed and warmed up and went through the process on the sideline. Going through adjustments and things like that, that’s all part of the whole process.

Q: Was a big part of it just maybe giving him a feel for the team and how it works from that vantage point?

BB: Yeah, well what we do in a game…right, that’s what he did. He experienced kind of the way we manage the game on the sideline. He got some exposure to that and I'm sure that there were some things that he saw that he can relate to whenever he starts playing in terms of how we do the signals and substitutions and sideline adjustments and all of those types of things.

Q: How much of the team’s success on third down last night might you attribute to Kevin Faulk and his various skills?

Journal files/Glenn Osmundson
Kevin Faulk