Masks, proximity monitors and an ocean of plexiglass. Welcome to training camp in 2020.
But despite the extensive restrictions and modifications the New England Patriots have implemented as they return to Gillette Stadium amid the COVID-19 pandemic, head coach Bill Belichick said this year’s camp doesn’t feel markedly different than the ones he’s presided over in the past.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t say any of it has just been overwhelming,” Belichick said Friday in a video conference when asked about the various safety-focused changes. “We wear masks. There’s not a buffet line for food. The food’s ordered; it’s boxed and packaged. The dining staff has done a great job. The meetings are in bigger rooms. We’re more spread out. But essentially, it’s the same meeting. We’re just distanced and wearing masks.
“I think everybody’s just a little more conscious of the hand-washing, the sanitizing, the distancing. We have to wear monitors and all that. There’s just a higher awareness of it. But fundamentally, we’re still going over the material — the same material — in a similar progression. We have walkthroughs. We have meetings. We have training and conditioning. We’re going to eventually have individual drills when we get to Phase 2, and then we’re going to get to Phase 3 and have 11-on-11 drills.
“So I don’t think it’s monumental, but certainly there are adjustments, none of which are, I would say, particularly inhibiting.”
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The biggest adjustment has been the camp schedule itself.
In a normal year, the Patriots would have held their first on-field practice last Thursday and would be less than a week away from their preseason opener. Instead, they’re currently limited to weight training, conditioning and one daily walkthrough. Their first practice isn’t until Aug. 12, and the pads won’t come on until Aug. 17. The preseason also was canceled, creating a setup Belichick repeatedly has compared to college football’s.
“It’s a little bit different,” Belichick said, referring to the changes inside the facility. “Maybe a little bit more time-consuming and just more precautionary, but I think we’ve tried to address everything, and we’ve asked the players — and they’ve been great — we’ve asked the players for their input. If they see something that looks a little like it needs to be adjusted or corrected or whatever, they’re good to bring it up, and then we take a look at it and do what we can to, whatever the situation is, try to improve it.
The reviews have been positive thus far. Linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley and cornerback Jonathan Jones both said Wednesday they were impressed by the team’s safety measures.
Belichick said Gillette Stadium’s spaciousness has allowed the team to meet the NFL’s requirements for smaller meetings and spaced-out lockers with relative ease.
“We’re very fortunate here,” the coach said. “We have a stadium. We have a big facility. I know there are other teams that are dealing in a much smaller training facility. We have a lot of big spaces and open space that we can work with, and that’s very helpful in the environment that we’re in. We have great food service, a big training room, weight room and so forth, so we’re able to accommodate — with the visitors’ locker room, when you add that in — we’re able to accommodate 80 people pretty comfortable.
“Of course, we have some plexiglass and things like that up that take things a step further, but we’re able to handle the number of people and what we would normally do, and it’s been pretty effective. Again, we’re not walking across the hall to a meeting. We’re walking maybe down to the end of the tunnel to it. But to me, those are relatively minor things.
“So I’d say overall, we’re doing things pretty close to the way we usually do them with more masks (and) more plexiglass, for sure. I don’t know what the plexiglass bill around here is, but it’s got to be pretty high.”
