The Patriots are practicing indoors because Bill Belichick is concerned about spies in skyscrapers
"I don’t think we can have a public practice out there."
Many former Rams are still convinced the Patriots filmed their walkthrough ahead of Super Bowl XXXVI. Bill Belichick isn’t taking any chances this week as New England prepares to face the franchise again 17 years later.
Before the Patriots traveled to Atlanta, they spent last week practicing indoors in Foxborough. They’ve stuck to the same plan in Georgia, conducting all of their pregame preparations at Georgia Tech’s indoor facility.
The facility is just over a mile away from the team’s downtown hotel, which has cut down on travel time. But that’s not the primary reason the Patriots chose it over Bobby Dodd Stadium, the university’s usual football grounds.
“There are 20-story skyscrapers surrounding the field,” Belichick said at practice Wednesday, per the pool report. “I don’t think we can have a public practice out there.”
Nearby buildings tower over Bobby Dodd Stadium.
It remains to be seen whether the Super Bowl itself will be played under a dome or in the elements. The NFL would prefer that Mercedes-Benz Stadium keep its camera-lens style retractable roof open for the game, but the stadium’s general manager said recently he didn’t think “the long-term forecast is such that we’d play open.”
Belichick noted that New England is “way ahead” of where it normally is at this point in a game week, but the Patriots are sticking to the routine that brought them to the Super Bowl.
“We are getting there,” he said. “We’ve still got four days, really. But we are getting there.”
Malcom Brown was the only Patriot who did not fully participate in practice Wednesday. The defensive tackle was limited with a calf injury and spent most of the session on the sideline.
