Foxboro – This time last year, the Patriots had spent 12 days in training camp, and Mac Jones Cam Newton was in the midst of a quarterback competition overseen by offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. They had three padded exercises with some interference on the floor and were exiting Sunday practice which was described as “the most physical exercise in camp.”
this year? Jones has the job to himself, there is no set attack coordinator, the team is slowly installing a new attack, the connection has been significantly loosened, and the Patriots chose not to train at all on Sunday.
I don’t think the relative lack of collisions hints at the kinder, more mellow Bill Belichick in 2022. Without looking at the way he ran his team he was totally struggling with conditioning training during voluntary OTAs. But it’s an interesting departure from what they did last year.
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With the Patriots season opening this Thursday against the Giants, the team will likely only have practice on Monday to raise their fitness level. Tuesday will be a light workout and Wednesday will be just meetings and walkthroughs if the team sticks to the game week schedule.
We asked Belichick about the switch while he’s available ahead of training on Monday.
“We are approaching our practices in the best possible way,” Belichick said after I really asked him the question. “The period of condensation was the period of increase. We had more days than we did last year at this time. I will come back to check again, but I think so.
“This year working with our strong crew and adapting, I feel our squad is as healthy as ever. Part of that has to do with the offseason program and the way the guys have worked. Maybe part of it is in terms of the way we trained but we didn’t have Very little time for players to waste – PUP players, NFI players – we pretty much made that clear today. We try to do what we think is best every year. Compared to year after year, I don’t know how relevant that is.”
But there has to be a reason to change the training schedule we see.
Could it be sports science pointing to the team’s late-season fainting for the past three years as a byproduct of wear? 11 of the team’s 21 losses since 2019 have come after Thanksgiving.
Is it an attempt to keep players out of harm’s way for longer? This makes sense and seems to work. Midfielder Jahlani Tavai is the only player we’ve seen dealing with a major injury during the first week and a half (hitting wood for players).
Is it about offensive overhaul, with Belichick deciding that reps with full speed and full contact could result in a running back injury or Jones having to run for his life after passing passes collapse and risking an odd injury to the franchise quarterback?
It may be all of the above. The result of all this is not that the Patriots are taking things easy. They are there long before the practices begin and at night every day. Coaches are turning toward sawdust. But there is an undeniable shift in how they are practiced.
For context, here’s the Patriots’ last year’s routine after camp opened on July 28.
Tuesday August 3rd: The first day on sanitary napkins. Some red area / touching goal line at the novice player Ramondry Stevenson Cornerback Trucked Myles Bryant.
Wednesday 4 August: holiday.
Thursday 5 August: pillows in the rain Direct intervention drills and more heavy contact in the goal line / red zone.
Friday, August 6: Shells for night training on the field.
Saturday 7 August: About
Sunday 8 August: pillowcases on. The longest camp exercise in the tenth exercise. “more physical exercise”, According to Paul Perillo of Patriots.com.
Monday 9 August: pillowcases on.
Tuesday 10 August: Walk around the stadium
Wednesday, August 11: no exercise
Thursday 12 August: Pre-season intro
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