Here are some highlights from a relatively non-informative conference call with Patriots coach Bill Belichick:
On the Jets team he saw yesterday
BELICHICK: They’re pretty much the same team. Obviously, they didn’t have a good night that night. But, they do a good job running the ball. They’ve got big play receivers and tight ends. They do what they do on defense – a lot of man coverage and they’re pretty physical on the front line. [They’re] very good in the kicking game. Good return game – that was a big play for them last night on the kickoff return after the Indianapolis field goal. They’re a solid team. Their record reflects that. I don’t think they’re a whole lot different than really what they’ve been all year. They do a lot of things well.
On familiarity with Jets
BB: You’ve had 16, 17 games, whatever it is, not counting preseason and another 100 and some practices, so I think everybody probably has got a lot of options in their playbook or in their system. It’s a question of what you want to do, what you feel like is best to choose from and the inflections that you have – how you match up and how you want to play against the team that you’re up against. I’m sure they have a lot of options at this point.
On if he watched the Jets-Colts game until the end
BB: Yeah, I did, yeah. Great game. Terrific game.
On Sanchez last night
BB: I thought he did a good job last night. [He] made some clutch plays that they needed to make there at the end of the game. He’s obviously a good quarterback; he’s led them to the playoffs two years in a row.
On growing media coverage of a young team
BB: I’ll have to give them a lot of guidance on how to deal with that. We’ve been pretty well covered all year. I wouldn’t say that we haven’t had a lot of coverage over the course of the year. We understand that it’s the playoffs, but we deal with it every week.
On Rex Ryan’s comments about Brady getting more help from Belichick than Peyton Manning gets from his coaches.
BB: I really don’t think a whole lot about stuff like that. I just try to coach our team. I think you have to ask Rex or somebody else about that, whoever said it, whatever the context was, I don’t know. I’m worried about getting our team ready.
