Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick

Video Press Conference
July 29, 2021

Many of today's press conference questions were inaudible and have been replaced with the subject matter covered.

BB: Good to get back on the field and get started here. Yesterday, as I said the other day, is really a continuation of the spring practice routine, mini-camps, OTAs, things like that. We're working in the red area, which we will continue to do here today and for a couple days. It's really about each individual just trying to get into football and the best football situation they can get into whether that's players, coaches and everybody else that has a football-related job, and the sports staff, scouting staff and so forth. The pace and the urgency and the way things happen at this time of year is obviously different than it is in the offseason. Our pace and our production needs to reflect that, so it's really just everybody is doing that. It's not just this particular day about evaluating how the team's going to shape up, and who's going to start on the offensive line and all that. It's really about being ready to go as a football team. When the competition starts and padded practices, preseason games, joint practices and things like that so, still kind of in a build up mode as the league has set it up, so just trying to make the most of it.

Q: On the signing of Jake Dolegala:

BB: We just thought it would be a good to have another quarterback activated and participate in the camp. Jarrett Stidham will miss a little bit of time, so we'll have Jake in here.

Q: On how he likes the press conference set up:

BB: Awesome.

Q: On the addition of Jonnu Smith:

BB: Great to have him. Great to work with him. He was only here for a few days in the spring. He was here earlier in the week. So yeah, it's good to have him. It's good to have all the guys that we have. Draft choices, guys we signed as free agents, guys we brought back. Excited about the guys who we are working with. We all have a lot of work to do. Not signaling out any new players, young players or anybody else, all of us have a lot of work to do, so let's get to it. 

Q: On Kyle Dugger's offseason changes:

BB: Well, I think all the first and second-year players as we've talked about before, it's always a big jump for them from year one to year two. They come to camp and have much better understanding of our system, understanding of the National Football League, and understanding of the expectations and routine is. After you've been through it once, it's a lot easier to prepare and go though it the second time. I think that's true for all the second-year players. Kyle's had a good offseason, and he has worked hard. I would say he's ready to go. See how it goes.

Q: On how Matt Judon has fit in so far:

BB: Fit in well. Again, all the new guys. They're new. They're getting adjusted to our system. We're getting adjusted to them. But yeah, he's been great. It's been fun.

Q: On the amount of red area work they have done so far this year:

BB: It's the way we've done it the last five years except for last year because last year we didn't have a spring. It's the way we've been doing it.

Q: On J.C. Jackson's progression:

BB: J.C. came in here unknown, undrafted player. Earned a spot on the roster. Earned playing time. He has continued to work hard and develop. I'd say his role has increased from year two to year three, and it's kind of stayed about the same since then. Continuing to gain the experience and improve on his fundamentals and techniques.

Q: On if J.C. Jackson is still improving:

BB: Well, you hope so, but again, I'm not going to make any judgements on that. We've only been out here a couple hours, so we'll go through camp and see how everybody performs. Players, coaches, young players, old players, all of us. We got a lot of work to do so we'll see how it comes out. 

Q: On Adrian Phillips' role and progression:

BB: I'm not really sure what role you're talking about there, but yeah glad we have him. Adrian's a good football player. It was great to sign him last year. He played well for us. I think he learned a lot about our system, and our style of play is a little different than what he had done in the past. Not saying anything was better or worse in the past. Just different. He seems comfortable with all the things we've asked him to do. He's doing a good job on the communication. At the position he plays, which is in and around the box, there's a lot of that. He does a good job of that. He's a very instinctive player. Sees and reacts to things quickly. Just got good football instincts. I'm glad we have, he's a versatile guy. Good football player.

Q: On what he has seen so far from Damien Harris:

BB: Well, I think Damien's a player that improved a lot from year one to year two. This year, he's in a little different role. Now he has an opportunity to compete for a lead spot and so he has embraced that. He's worked hard. He's been here since the day after the season was over. He has worked as hard as anyone has in the offseason. I'm sure that'll help his preparation. Heading into this camp, we'll see how he does. He's worked extremely hard. He's a very dedicated player. I've been impressed by the commitment he has shown.

Q: On what has been the hardest part for the people returning to the team this year that opted out of last season:

BB: I don't know. You'd have to ask them. We went through the spring and most of those guys were back here. Well, they were all back here for at least part of it. Some guys were here for more than others. Different but the same as a player that's injured and misses the year and comes back. I mean you miss time, and there's a reclamation process. I don't know. You'd have to ask them.

Q: On if he needs to adjust his system for Nelson Algolor:

BB: Well of course. Yeah. Everything we do is specific to us, but you know, a lot of that is also interdependent on who the other players are on the field. If one player can do multiple things and nobody else can, then it's hard to move one guy without moving somebody else. Just really depends on what the overall makeup of the skill group is and obviously that plays into situations and formations and game plans and so forth, but generically we try to teach our guys multiple spots at all positions, not just the receiver position. Not knowing how game plan needs or roster needs. Not being able to anticipate those during the regular season, so if we have to create our own depth from our roster, we have some ability to do that or at least we know what our ability is. If we know a guy can go to a different spot, then we don't want to waste time with that in the regular season. We find some other way to do it. Nelson has shown a lot of versatility here. Again, how much that does and doesn't happen depends on a lot of things. He's one of them, but there's other factors as well.

Q: On how Kyle Van Noy has fit in since returning to the team:

BB: Yeah, I mean Kyle was here for three years. I think he had a good four or whatever it was. I mean he was here for quite a while so he had a pretty good understanding of what we did. Going back to all the different adjustments and why we do things the way we do. He's got good, like [Adrian] Phillips, good instincts, good leadership, good awareness. He does things pretty naturally. Something comes up that we haven't covered or talked about, whether it's here or anywhere else. He's been pretty good at doing the right thing. Trying to figure out where he should be or where he should move somebody else so that they can handle the situation that's facing him.

Q: On how much information Mac Jones has retained of the playbook:

BB: Well, we'll see. This is a lot of new work in the red area. We've done stuff out on the field from the spring. We haven't really got to that yet in training camp. That'll be coming. So, I don't know. We'll find out.

Q: On what he has seen from Joejuan Williams this year:

BB: Yeah again, Joejuan has continued to work hard and improve and develop. He's a guy that's going to compete for playing time, and we'll let him compete with some other players and see how it goes.

Q: On what the crowd brings:

BB: It's more like a normal camp. A lot different than last year, so it's good to see everyone out here. There's a good level of enthusiasm and energy, but we really have to focus on what we're trying to accomplish on the field and whatever happens in the stands, happens in the stands. We can't really control that. We need to have a good practice and do the things we are working on. That's really what we need to do.

Q: On when the team will ramp up intensity:

BB: When we're allowed to. I mean all we have on is helmets. 

Q: On when the team is allowed to wear pads:

BB: When we're allowed to wear them, we'll wear them.

Q: On what day the team will wear pads:

BB: The earliest we could wear them is Tuesday.