FOXBORO, Mass. — Sunday couldn’t have gone much better for Bill Belichick.
Gillette Stadium welcomed United States Military veterans, witnessed an F-18 flyover and saw the Patriots earn a dominant 45-7 win over the Cleveland Browns. Not a bad day at the office for New England’s patriotic head coach, whose history in Cleveland is well documented.
Belichick began his postgame press conference by offering his thoughts on Sunday’s military ceremonies.
“The relationship that our team, our organization has with the (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) Foundation has been very meaningful for all of us for a number of years, and proud to work with James Patrick Darcy’s pin here today,” Belichick said. All of our players and coaches have been involved in that and all week, and I know they had (Patriots owner Robert) Kraft and the organization had some events for them and things like that. But it was awesome to see that, to recognize the military, to have Admiral Gilday here. Always like to see a lot of those gold bars on those any of the uniforms. Always sends chills down my spine. Just the whole week, the Veterans week, the Salute to Service Day and all that that brought. And you know, thankfully we did our part and I thought the team really played well today.”
Belichick also took a moment to talk about former Patriot and current Browns cornerback Troy Hill, who was stretchered off the field after suffering a neck injury.
“Our thoughts and our prayers are with Troy Hill,” he said. “You know, it’s always something that none of us ever want to see, and so he was here very briefly but hope that he’s okay.”
The Patriots head coach was in great spirits while talking about his team, and rightfully so. New England’s performance Sunday was a complete effort, one that will have many discussing whether the Patriots are one of the AFC’s best teams.
Rookie quarterback Mac Jones was excellent, completing 19 of 23 passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns, while the rushing attack, led by Rhamondre Stevenson, totaled 184 yards against a top-five run defense. Belichick’s defense gave up a touchdown on the first drive of the game but shut out Cleveland the rest of the way.
The Patriots now have won four games in a row and will look to make it five when they visit the Falcons for a “Thursday Night Football” matchup in Atlanta.
“There were so many outstanding plays and players and the preparation we had this week, really you can put everybody and talk about just about everybody in there,” Belichick said. “Long touchdown drives. You know, turnovers, competitive plays in the kicking game. Just kind of big plays after big plays from so many different people. So, just really proud of the way the team prepared, the way they competed and you know, we just as I told them after the game there, it’s Wednesday night and tomorrow’s Thursday. … So, we have a lot of work to do here in a short amount of time.
“So, just enjoy this one briefly but we’ve got to move on and turn the page to Atlanta very quickly. It was a good day for us today and hopefully, we can fill the tank back up and be ready to have another good, quick week here and be ready to go on Thursday because that will be a big challenge for us heading down there. But proud of the way these guys played today and proud of the way they competed.”
Belichick later was asked about what he’s seen from his players over the last month.
“Players are doing a good job of studying,” he said. “They are doing a good job of working together and anticipating things that are going to happen so we can react a little faster and play more aggressively. Players are doing a good job of trying to practice and understanding how important that practice execution sets up the performance in the game. But we’ll have to keep doing it. We’re running up against another good team this week and if we don’t, then things won’t go well. We’ll see how we do this week.
Of course, Belichick was asked about Jones. Specifically, Belichick was asked how Jones handled himself this week amid criticism over his ankle grab on Carolina Panthers edge rusher Brian Burns.
“That’s the NFL for all of us,” he said. “We all deal with things every week and Mac has done a good job of it. So has everybody else. We all learn. As I said, there’s different challenges every week from each and every team and every situation. So just do the best we can with them. Yeah, he’s done a good job.”
The Patriots, now 6-4, are seventh in the AFC. They trail the Buffalo Bills by just a half-game for first place in the AFC East.
