New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick clearly believes the Las Vegas Raiders organization struck it rich with the Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center.
The team’s practice facility in nearby Henderson, Nevada is hosting the Patriots in joint practices Tuesday and Wednesday prior to Friday’s preseason game at Allegiant Stadium. And while the newly-designed Allegiant Stadium has many other NFL organizations jealous, Belichick hasn’t stopped praising the practice facility, which is said to have cost around $75 million.
“Facilities here are incredible. This is the Taj Mahal of football facilities,” Belichick said Tuesday prior to the first day of joint work, per a team-provided transcript. “It’s a great environment, looking forward to being in the stadium. Of course, we come back out here in the regular season. It certainly looks like they’re ready for football. Stadium looks good, facility looks good, and they have a good team. And a good coach. And a good staff. So, I’m sure it’ll be very competitive.”
Those comments came one day after Belichick said the Henderson facility was as good as any he’s ever seen.
“This is magnificent. I’ve been to a lot of good facilities and there have been some amazing college facilities, but I’d put this up there against any of them,” Belichick said Monday. “I mean forget about the amenities, just the fields, the weight room, the offices, the indoor facility, the proximity, the ease of everything, yeah, this is as good as any I’ve seen. Better than any I’ve seen, not as good, it’s better than anything I’ve seen. It’s outstanding. It’s great for us to be able to work here. It’s ideal working conditions. We’ll walk in right in off the field, lift, get refueled and hydrate and they’ve got stations right there in the weight room, it’s set up good. We’re only a mile away, whatever it is, so it’s an easy transition getting dressed, getting taped, getting ready to go, coming over here getting off the bus then get ready to practice. It’s great.”
You can check out a video of the facility courtesy of the Las Vegas Review-Journal here.
It seems to be helping the Raiders, too. NESN’s Zack Cox reported Tuesday how Las Vegas got the better of New England in just about every facet of the joint practice. Raiders newly-acquired receiver Davante Adams reportedly took it to the Patriots secondary, especially Jalen Mills, with Las Vegas head coach Josh McDaniel dialing it up for the All-Pro wideout.
The Patriots will return to action against the Raiders on Wednesday with on-site coverage on NESN.com throughout the week.
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