Patriots Practicing Indoors During Super Bowl Week To Avoid Potential Spying

The New England Patriots are holding their Super Bowl LIII week practices at Georgia Tech’s indoor facility, and not because of the chilly winter weather in Atlanta.

After Wednesday’s practice — the Patriots’ first since arriving in Atlanta on Sunday — head coach Bill Belichick told AFC pool reporter Jenny Vrentas the team chose not to utilize the Yellow Jackets’ outdoor practice fields because they do not offer enough privacy.

“There are 20-story skyscrapers surrounding the field,” Belichick said. “I don’t think we can have a public practice out there.”

Practices during Super Bowl week are closed to fans and media members, save for one pool reporter for each team. Belichick naturally does not want Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay getting an early look at his game plan for Sunday.

Super Bowl LIII likely will be played indoors, as well, as Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of the Falcons, has a retractable roof.

“We haven’t (practiced) indoors very many times,” Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia said during Wednesday’s media availability at the Patriots’ Super Bowl hotel. “I’m sure Bill was chagrined that we had to go inside when we could have just gone outside and froze a little bit more, but we’re playing inside this week, so it’s not a big deal.”

The Patriots also practiced indoors in Foxboro, Mass., last week before departing for Atlanta. They practiced outside ahead of Super Bowl LII, which was played in a dome in Minneapolis.