October 8, 2006 - A Week inside the mind of the Patriots

NFL teams are meticulous in their preparation; and the Patriots under Bill Belichick even more so.  I think seeing the details of their preparation is fascinating.

A week inside the mind of the Patriots

Bill Belichick offers a rare glimpse into his team's exhaustive game preparation

By Mike Reiss, Globe Staff  |  October 8, 2006

FOXBOROUGH -- When Bill Belichick puts on his headset and starts pacing the sideline today, 10 days of preparation will begin to unfold in front of him.

What exactly happens in those 10 days?

There is film review. Team meetings. Individual meetings with players. More film review. Coaching meetings. Practices. Media obligations. Some more film review.

With the Patriots set to take on the Dolphins today, Belichick offered an inside glimpse of the game-planning process, through the lens of the head coach.

``It really starts on Thursday of the previous week, where we have the offensive and defensive quality-control coaches break down the films of Miami's last three games," Belichick said. ``For the rest of the staff, we'll take a look at those games on Friday afternoon, Friday night, Saturday, and even Sunday morning, just to get familiar with them."

Last week was a balancing act for Belichick and the team's assistants. They had Sunday's game with the Bengals at the forefront of their mind, but they were also laying the groundwork for the Dolphins. The headstart was important, although for some coaches, it could lead to mixing up game plans.

``One thing I do on Sunday morning, so I can get the other game out of my mind, is go back over the current game," Belichick said. ``Even though we've already spent as many hours preparing for the game, you want to make sure you're still sharp and you don't forget anything."

After the Patriots beat the Bengals, 38-13, last Sunday, the team boarded a plane and returned to Gillette Stadium around midnight. About six hours later, Belichick was back in his office, preparing for a full workday on Monday.

The game with the Bengals had been loaded into the team's computer system.

``At that point, I'm going through the game again, making notes, thinking about plays that I want to show the team," Belichick said. ``Maybe a situation comes up that you want to talk about, so that everybody understands what's happening, and a lot of times, those situations go both ways.

``A good example from last week was early in the game, when Kevin Faulk caught an angle route and gained around 20 yards, but the ball squirted out at the end. That was a chance to review the down-by-contact rule with the team. So it's things like that, or sometimes it's pulling out plays we look vulnerable on, or areas we'd like to improve, like kickoff returns."

The rest of the coaches were doing the same thing, specific to the positions they coach. At 10:30 a.m., the entire staff reviewed the game, while also setting an agenda for the rest of the day.

There was a full team meeting at 12:30 in which the game film was reviewed, with Belichick at the controls. After that meeting, the squad had a special teams segment, then broke up into offensive and defensive meetings, which lasted until about 3 p.m.

Belichick held a press conference at 2:45 p.m., and made his regular radio appearance on WEEI at 5:30 p.m.

As that was unfolding, the Dolphins' fourth game of the season -- a loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday -- had been broken down by the quality-control staff. Now all of the team's coaches had the Dolphins games in the computer system.

``By late Monday afternoon, everyone is getting their own information together, their scouting report together, and each coach has a different segment they are working on," Belichick said.

``That's when we start formulating game-plan ideas and personnel thoughts."

Once Belichick signed off from his radio interview at 6 p.m., he was almost ready to turn the page from the Bengals game, except for one final responsibility.

``I usually take a little time and make some final notes on the game for when we might play them the next time," he said. ``It's stuff you pick up along the way, after watching the film, or talking to the players, they tell you things going on that maybe you can't see on the field -- that the quarterback did this, or a lineman was calling this on that play. By that point, Monday night, things have settled, you've seen the tape a second time, and it's a chance to reorganize your thoughts."

Belichick's notes are usually entered in a Microsoft Word document. As he prepared to turn his focus to the Dolphins game, he called up his old notes, and was reminded of how close the rivalry has been in recent years. He decided that he'll pass that information on to the team when they meet again later in the week.

Before cashing in for the night, Belichick watched some film on the Dolphins, focusing on specific elements like running plays, or play-action passes, or big plays on both sides of the ball.

He made sure to wrap up fairly early, as he was short on sleep from the night before.

Tuesday is a day to formulate the game plan, and the office lights are usually on by 6 a.m.

Belichick started the day by looking at more Dolphins film, beginning with their defense. At around 11 a.m., he turned his attention to the Miami offense. After that, the focus was on individual Dolphins players.

``You're trying to have a good feel for each player and how they are being used, what kind of skill set that player has, and how that player matches up," he said. ``At the same time you're thinking about your own team -- who you could put on him, who might be able to handle him, who might have some trouble with him and might need help."

The full staff met around noon that day, and ideas for the game plan were discussed. Personnel was also a big part of the meeting, as the staff attempted to get a handle on which players might be available for action.

Belichick said the game plan was put onto paper by the end of the day.

``By Tuesday night, everyone is pretty well along on the plan; we know what we want to do, and then it's about preparing for different meetings with the players," Belichick said. ``We'll want to show film the next day -- here is how this play we're running will look against them, or here is how they would handle this certain formation, or this is where they line up when we do this.

``A lot of this is preparation for players, and at the same time, it's a review for each of us as to what our game plan is.

``We also talk about any adjustments to rules that we want players to follow. Like a team with two tight ends in the game, the rule is always to go to the guy on the line, but if [the Giants'] Jeremy Shockey isn't on the line, we still want to go to him. Since that rule changed from what it normally is, those are the type of things we're discussing."

Coaches are usually out of the office by 11 p.m. at the latest.

Belichick and the coaches returned to the office by 6 a.m. on Wednesday, and they prepared for a full team meeting at 8. When the players arrived, Belichick showed film of the Dolphins -- offense, defense, and special teams.

``It's basically, `This is what the team does well, this is what we'll have to try to stop,' " Belichick said. ``And we'll show them examples of the team in those phases of the game, both visually and verbally, all the way through the week as we're installing the game plan.

``You try to find examples of how our game plan would apply, like earlier in the year, when Cleveland played Buffalo [in the preseason]. They're similar to what we do."

The day broke down as follows: