BB: Alright, so we're into Day 3 here, so moving along. I think we've got a lot of, obviously, new people on the team working hard. I feel like we're moving ahead every day here. This will be a good day for us to continue to build on the first two days and then take a little break here over the weekend, come back and tee it up again next week. [We have a] long way to go, a lot of work to do, but moving in the right direction, so it's good.
Q: Did you order the rainy weather today?
BB: Yes, it's perfect. Good day to work.
Q: Is this a good day to test ball security?
BB: Absolutely. Good day for it.
Q: What traits does Brandin Cooks have that made you interested in him?
BB: Well, Brandin's got - we did a couple years ago in the draft - a good player. We've worked against him here. We'll see how it goes.
Q: What traits does Stephon Gilmore have that made you want to bring him to the team?
BB: He's played well against us. In our division, we see quite a bit of him. We'll see how it goes.
Q: Is there a common thread or reaction a player has when he joins the organization? What's the main message you try to give those guys to help them fit in?
BB: We start at the bottom and try to work our way up. Yeah, you'd have to ask them what their thoughts are. We just try to get them caught up to what we're doing, so just don't take anything for granted. Just work from the bottom up.
Q: What do you notice from Tom Brady on a daily basis that helps him maintain his high level of performance?
BB: Just Tom does it every day, like a lot of our guys do. Come in and work hard every day, try to string them together. He's been doing that for a while. Again, a lot of the guys on our team that have been here for a number of years are similar - good work ethic, consistency, dependability day-to-day.
Q: Do you think he can continue to improve at his age or is it more about maintaining his abilities?
BB: Yeah, it's probably some of that. But, I mean, look, it's a new year. It's a new team, so we have a lot of new things. Everybody's starting all over again. I'm starting all over again. The coaching staff is starting all over again. The players are starting all over again. It's a new year. We've all got a lot of work to do, but we've done it before, haven't done it before - doesn't really make any difference. It's still a new season, a new group to work with. We've all got to earn each other's trust, and the only way you do it is to go out there and do it. There's no shortcut to it.
Q: Is it nice to be hosting the NCAA Lacrosse Championships at Gillette Stadium?
BB: Yeah, it's great. A lot of my friends are here with both the men's and women's teams. It should be a great event to have both the men and women competing over the same weekend in the same venue. It will be a great weekend for lacrosse.
Q: Do you plan to attend or watch any of the games?
BB: I'll definitely see a lot of people here in the next couple of days at the welcome event tonight and things like that. Hopefully, I'll look as sharp as you do. I mean I think you're a little overdressed for this, Mike [Reiss], but it's alright.
Q: Why do you feel such a strong connection to the sport of lacrosse?
BB: Well, I've played it since like the seventh grade. It's a big sport in Maryland. Maryland and Towson here from Maryland on the men's side, Maryland here on the women's side, Navy, so half of each bracket is Maryland teams. That's a good thing.
Q: You said after the Super Bowl that you were five or six weeks behind other teams in preparing for the 2017 season. How does that affect what you do at this point in the year?
BB: I think we're probably caught up to where we are now. I think it's the being behind in draft, free agency and that type of thing. I think at this point, we're ready for OTAs. We'll be ready for training camp. I think that part of it we'll be on schedule on. It's the catching up on all the spring projects, draft and free agency. It's the initial part of it.
Q: When you bounce around to different position groups at practice, how do you determine where to go and when?
BB: Well, based on the practice schedule, there's certain drills that I'll plan on being at or maybe a certain group of players, but I try to look at everybody, see what we're doing, make sure that we're overall - you know, it's kind of my job to bring the whole team together from a lot of levels. Just, I think, being familiar with all the players, what everybody's doing, trying to see how we're doing and how we're on schedule or how the groups are looking. The coaches are obviously a lot more detailed and go into a lot more depth in their respective positions, but I have an opportunity to kind of see everything. They don't. I've been in that position before where you're so focused on your group or your side of the ball that you really are not that in touch with what else is going on. That's something that's really part of my job.
Q: How does having new players impact your decisions on what you watch at practice?
BB: Yeah, that's definitely part of it. Seeing the new players, how they're doing and also how they're doing relevant to the rest of the other players that I'm a little more familiar with. Again, each year is a new year, so even though we've seen some of these guys multiple years, it's still starting all over again, seeing where they are, how they're progressing in their training and preparation for the season.
Q: What are your early impressions of the rookies and how have their first few days of practice been?
BB: Not bad. They've got a long way to go. They've been on their own for a long time - five, six months, whatever it's been since the end of their college season. Now they have a team, now they have more structure, so they're adjusting to that.
Q: What did you see from Nick Caley that made you confident he could coach the tight ends?
BB: Well, Nick's been working with us on that side of the ball and he's done a good job with the responsibilities that he's had. We felt that he would do a good job with that. He's worked hard to learn the things that we do offensively, learning the techniques and the positions, and we felt he was ready for that stuff.
Q: Nick Caley is another product of John Carroll University on your coaching staff.
BB: Yeah, we've got a lot of those.
Q: What are your thoughts on the work Rob Gronkowski has put in this offseason to return to the field for OTAs?
BB: Yeah, I mean, we'll see how it goes. We've only practiced a couple days. We've got a long way to go, but we'll see how it goes.
Q: Who do you think will win the NCAA Lacrosse Championships this weekend?
BB: Yeah, pretty competitive group.
