The New England Patriots had media day at the team hotel on Tuesday. Coach Bill Belichick got everything started as he took on questions from the media. Belichick talked about the season, his players, and other topics as well. He did not smile like he did on opening night and he left his suit in his closet. The four-time Super Bowl winning coach went into detail about the team and how they will try to pace themselves in this energy-challenging contest.
Belichick realizes this game has a lot of hype around it and it can be taxing on his players from start to finish. He acknowledged the fact that there is a longer pregame, longer timeouts, a longer halftime, and that can cause a player to expend a lot of energy and be tired by the third quarter. One thing he and his coaching staff are doing is making sure players stay hydrated, do not exert too much energy, as well as stay mentally focused throughout the week.
The New England players at each podium were: Tom Brady, Chris Long, Marcus Cannon, Logan Ryan, Duron Harmon, James White, Patrick Chung, Nate Solder, James Develin, and Julian Edelman. For the most part, these guys are very “Belichickian,” for lack of a better word, in terms of their demeanor.
Brady had an emotional outbreak on Opening Night regarding a question asked about his hero. The teary-eyed former MVP talked about his dad and it caught everyone off guard. Today, Brady reflected on it.
He said, “My mom and dad, they have been so supportive my entire life and it is nice to be here to show them and try to make them proud.”
Harmon was really loose, comfortable, and had a smile as he answered questions. The former Rutgers standout talked about how loyal the New England fans are. He described them as “crazy at times”, but he appreciates them. Harmon also talked about the problems the Falcons’ receiving core could present.
“We have to realize that Julio Jones faces double coverage each and every week and it’s those guys [the other Falcons’ receivers] that are making plays when they need to,” Harmon stated.
Media Day at the hotel came to a close, but not without Edelman opening up about returning to the Super Bowl.
“It’s pretty crazy to get these opportunities to go to the Super Bowl. You never take them for granted that’s for sure. This one is different because this is a completely different team. I’ll be able to answer that question more after the game,” said the Patriots wideout.
The Patriots and Belichick think before they make statements and they only go so far with their answers. In other words, they give superficial answers and that is not a bad thing. Those types of answers allow them to control the narrative and limit the possibility of a distraction before the biggest game of their lives. The fact of the matter is this is a team that is happy to be here, but focused on the ultimate task at hand.
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