Get the latest Boston sports news
Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.
Bill Belichick explained why joint practices can be more valuable than preseason games
Belichick also offered an overview of how two teams organize a joint practice to "operate efficiently."
The Red Sox open a three-game series against the Pirates tonight in Pittsburgh at 7:05 p.m.
Tomorrow, the Revolution face Toronto FC at 7:30 p.m.
And on Thursday, the Patriots play the team’s second preseason game against the Panthers at 7 p.m.
Bill Belichick on the value of joint practices: The Patriots and Panthers are holding joint practices on both Tuesday and Wednesday prior to the preseason matchup between the two teams on Friday.
The concept of a joint practice is one which Patriots coach Bill Belichick has been a fan of for years.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Belichick was asked how much a joint practice is scripted, and if there is “ever a session where [the Patriots] will just throw our offense out there, and [the Panthers] will throw their defense out there and we’ll see what happens?”
Advertisement:
In response, the Patriots coach chucked before adding, “Let’s see, how do I answer that?” He eventually offered an interesting overview of how teams approach a joint practice.
“All of it’s organized so that we can both get the most out of it,” Belichick began. “Most of it is not pre-called, so we don’t know who they’re going to have on the field and what they’re going to do, what formation they’re going to be in. They don’t know the same for us, what defense we’re going to be in.
“So it’s organized to the point where we can operate efficiently,” he continued. “It’s not a big mystery as to what’s going on, but what either team decides to do in that situation is up to that team.”
Advertisement:
Because of the level of control afforded to both coaching staffs during the practice sessions, Belichick acknowledged that — having discussed it ahead of time with Panthers coach Matt Rhule — a few different scenarios (goal-line practice being one that he specifically mentioned) will be avoided.
“Now we’ve ruled out a few things that we just don’t want to deal with, certain personnel groups or a certain situation that would just become more trouble probably than it’s worth at this point in time,” he explained.
Asked a follow-up question about if he thinks joint practices can have as big of an impact as preseason games, Belichick had a strong response.
“In some respects you get a lot more out of them,” he replied.
“We can set up a lot more situations that aren’t going to come up in preseason games with the players who are most likely going to be playing them,” said Belichick. “That will be a good place to start. Certainly in a preseason game you don’t get individual one-on-ones or two-on-twos, or those kind of individual match-ups that show up in a practice session. There are a lot of differences between practices and games. We could be here all day talking about that.”
Advertisement:
Trivia: What current Patriot played for Matt Rhule at Baylor during his final season as coach there in 2019?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: He’s a Patriots rookie.
More from Boston.com:
- The Celtics should want nothing to do with Kevin Durant
- Cedric Maxwell said he’d trade Jaylen Brown for Kevin Durant if it were his call
- Rafael Devers earned high praise from Alex Cora after Red Sox win vs. Yankees
- NFL analyst thinks Patriots’ play-calling is ‘absolutely an issue’
- ‘That’s my guy’: Christian Barmore says he and David Andrews are fine after scuffle
- Celtics will play first game of NBA’s regular season against 76ers
- Jaylen Brown, Mayor Wu attend Roxbury vs. Dorchester basketball game
Patriots cornerback out of the season: As has been noted by Patriots reporters, Joejuan Williams was considered a roster-bubble player, and his move to injured reserve may help the team make its roster cut-down requirement later today.
Discussing Mac Jones’s ranking on the NFL top-100 list:
On this day: In 2008, Usain Bolt won the first of three consecutive gold medals in the men’s 100-meter dash. Bolt set a record at the Beijing Games with a time of 9.69 seconds. He went on to smash his own record in 2009, running the distance in just 9.58 seconds (a mark that still stands).
Daily highlight: Trailing by a goal and down a player due to a red card, Liverpool needed some magic to find an equalizer against Crystal Palace on Monday. They found it in Luis Diaz, who dribbled his way into position before unleashing an unstoppable shot.
Trivia answer: Tyquan Thornton
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com