FOXBORO, Mass. — After nine days, 17 practices and more than 100 hours at Gillette Stadium since the start of training camp, the Patriots players have been given the weekend off.
The Patriots won't practice Saturday or Sunday, but they'll be back to work Monday. They're expected to hold two practices with the Saints on Tuesday before holding one practice and one walkthrough Wednesday. Their first preseason game is Thursday against New Orleans at Gillette.
New England opened training camp with six consecutive days of double-sessions, and they had double sessions each of the last two days before Bill Belichick gave them the good news. Players have been reporting to Gillette Stadium as early as 6 a.m. and staying until about 8 p.m. Injured players have been staying later to get extra treatment.
While the intensity has slowed down — with the focus this week geared more toward teaching and installing that physicality and on-field conditioning — the players have been feeling the grind of camp.
Surely, the series of walkthroughs and low-speed padded practices created speculation that things haven’t been coming along as quickly. However, the fact that Belichick granted his players a mini-vacation is a strong sign that he's happy with their progress through nine days of training camp.
