HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK
PRESS CONFERENCE
August 24, 2021
BB: Another good training camp day for us. Follow up from yesterday. Keep working on things that we need to work on and look forward to working with the Giants tomorrow. Hopefully we can keep stacking these days together and continue to have a good week, which we need to do. Work on some things different than last week, but that's kind of the normal progression of training camp, so we'll see. Hopefully have a good week this week.
On the team's statement about Cam Newton's absence:
BB: I don't have anything to add to it, Tom [Curran].
On whether a player's vaccination status will affect any of his decisions:
BB: The league rules are the league rules. We'll be compliant with them. Whatever they are, they are.
On dealing with players who are exposed to COVID-19:
BB: Well, this is similar to what it was last year, so we dealt with it last year.
On whether there being no vaccine last year differentiates last season to this season:
BB: Yeah. I understand. I'm talking about the rules.
On there now being ways to circumvent COVID-19 rules with the introduction of the vaccine:
BB: Every team is dealing with the same situation.
On if having an unvaccinated player puts the team at a competitive disadvantage:
BB: Every team has got the same situation.
On if expects Cam Newton to be back at practice on Thursday:
BB: Yes. That's the time frame. Yeah.
On if Cam Newton faces a competitive disadvantage by being away from the practice field for the next few days:
BB: Yeah. Of course. If you couldn't gain anything by practicing, then why would we practice?
On the health of Cam Newton:
BB: I don't have anything to add to the statement. It is what it is. We've given information, and that's all I have.
On if the plan is to play Cam Newton in Sunday's game against the Giants:
BB: Look. I don't have anything to add to that.
On if this week is a good opportunity for Mac Jones:
BB: It is.
On what he is hoping to see from Mac Jones over the next few days with more opportunities:
BB: Our entire team has opportunities every day. All the way through the week against the Giants and in the game. I hope we can all take advantage of those opportunities.
On how Mac Jones has done improving from his mistakes:
BB: There's a big learning curve for all rookies. We all have a lot of work to do. We're three weeks into training camp. We got a long way to go.
On if Cam Newton's absence affects his evaluation of Newton:
BB: We'll evaluate everything the way we always do based on the information we have.
On Nick Folk returning to practice yesterday:
BB: There were limited opportunities yesterday. Again, we'll evaluate the whole process and see how it goes. First day he's back. It's good to have him back out there. See how it goes.
On what he has seen from Yodny Cajuste the last week:
BB: Again, I think all players out there are improving. Yodny's working hard. He's improving. Been able to string practices together, so that's always a good way to improve is to continue to practice.
On Bill Walsh's NFL Diversity Coaching Fellowship program:
BB: I think it's a great program. It's a great opportunity for both the teams and the participants in it to make a connection more than casually, but actually in the workplace and on the job. I think it's been great.
On the rationale behind hosting joint practices with the Giants in Foxborough and then traveling to New York for the game:
BB: It's just the way we decided to do them.
On what drove that decision:
BB: We felt like that was the best way to do it.
