Patriots ‘Conditioned’ By Bill Belichick, Not Intimidated By Schedule

By the numbers, the New England Patriots are set to face the NFL’s toughest schedule in 2020.

That might be cause for concern for most NFL franchises — especially those who just lost one of the league’s best quarterbacks in free agency — but not the Patriots.

At least one Patriots defender doesn’t seem overly concerned. Slot cornerback Jonathan Jones spoke to the media Tuesday via conference call and isn’t intimidated by New England’s upcoming slate, because he’s been coached by Bill Belichick for long enough.

“I guess I’m conditioned by Bill,” Jones said. “I’ve been here for going on five years, so I’m conditioned to just know every year is a new year. Every team is a new team. Everybody has changes, and their win percentages from last year kind of don’t matter. Teams will go 0-6 to start and then pick up better. Just taking it one day at a time. The first thing we have to do is get in training camp and figure out who we are as a team. That’s when it’s really going to start. And then teams evolve as the season goes on as every year. We have to figure out who we are first and the other teams really don’t matter at this point.”

It’s a good point. While six of the Patriots’ 13 upcoming opponents made the postseason in 2019, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be as competitive or successful this season.

The Patriots would be getting set for on-field organized team activities work right about now in previous years, but the coronavirus has thrown a wrench in those plans. The Patriots instead are going through virtual team meetings, but actual practice is put on hold until late July when training camp is set to begin.

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