FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Patriots coaches are already back at work on the upcoming 2020 season. The picture above is of head coach Bill Belichick (wearing an outdated VII Rings visor… he, of course, has eight Super Bowl rings nowadays) at the Senior Bowl in Alabama, where some of the top draft-eligible college prospects are auditioning for NFL clubs this week. According to a reporter from The Athletic website, other members of the BB staff are there with him as well.

One coach who won't be there, at least not wearing Patriots garb, is Bret Bielema, who's said to be joining Joe Judge with the New York Giants. However, AL.com, a website that covers Alabama sports, tells us that a former Crimson Tide player who spent time on the Patriots' practice squad is set to join the football staff here in Foxborough. His role is unspecified.

There's also talk today of WR Julian Edelman having gone under the knife this month. We've got that and a couple other tidbits in an offseason Patriots Unfiltered Notebook. 

Meanwhile, a Boston Globe scribe is trying to make the case today that both the Super Bowl LIV-bound 49ers and last year's champion Patriots got what they wanted out of the trade involving QB Jimmy Garoppolo. Decide for yourself when you read his argument.