New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick talks about the off season during the NFL Owners meeting in Palm Beach, Fla. on Monday. (AP photo)

The background noise, from the video recording, was loud at the Palm Beach, Fla.hotel where the NFL owners meetings are being held and coaches were holding simultaneous press conferences.

But New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s message to the media was loud and clear, even if his reasoning seemed vague.

“We reviewed everything that happened in the 21 season, now it’s about moving ahead,” Belichick said.

Belichick said the Patriots are currently installing their offensive/defensive systems, and that’s nothing different than in offseasons past.

“We’re in that process,” Belichick said, adding “It’s great to have Joe Judge back and Matt (Patricia) of course, they’re two great coaches… We’re working through it, doing the best we can here.”

When asked if losing Josh McDaniels was a step back?

“We’ve gone through that multiple years,” Belichick said, adding that with regard to the role of returning assistant Joe Judge from his two-year failed stint as the New York Giants head coach, “Everybody will have a defined role, once they always do. Again, the off season’s the offseason. Once we get to game-planning, things like that, that will all work itself out.

“We’re not calling any for awhile. I think our staff is complete. I wouldn’t rule anything out, I don’t think we’ll hire anybody else, but we’ll evaluate every situation as it comes.”

As for the offense, and who will call plays, etc., Belichick said “We’ll get to that when it’s time to get to it. Like I said, we won’t be calling any plays for a while. We’ve got a lot of other things on the table.”

Such as, Belichick explained, putting offensive and defensive systems together, any changes needing to be made, etc., taking into account the new players who have come in and those like Devin McCourty, etc. who have re-signed.

Belichick was persistently asked about the role of Patricia, the team’s former defensive coordinator who returned last season after a near three-year stint as the Detroit Lions head coach.

“Broad role. Very broad,” Belichick said. “Does a lot of things, helps me in a lot of ways. He does a lot of things, has a lot of experience. … Last year, things like the COVID rules, Matt’s had a lot of different roles.”

Belichick’s unconventional public approach to the coaching staff’s role has raised some eyebrows, but not for the head coach, who seems to be taking more of a role with the offense. There is no offensive or defensive coordinator, per se.

“I’ve done a variety of things, I’ll do what I feel helps the team the best, we’ll see what that is,” Belichick said. “I’m not big on titles. We have jobs to do, we’ll do the jobs.”

Is there any confusion without titles?

“I don’t know, Belichick said. “I don’t know what difference it makes.” I don’t worry about titles, I worry about jobs. … “Ultimately it’s my responsibility. Whatever happens, happens.”

The reason the offense has come under question is the fact that with Josh McDaniels gone to take over the Las Vegas Raiders, could that leave a void in terms of developing now second year QB Mac Jones?

“I’m sure everybody will have a role in it,” Belichick said. “I feel like I have a lot of good people working with me in the organization … I don’t do it all by any stretch.”

The next question is the roster. While the rest of the AFC East – just about the entire AFC, for that matter – has made a big roster splash, the Patriots have shopped in the bargain area. They’ve brough back a few of their own free agents – McCourty, James White and Matthew Slater are seen as valuable locker room pieces – while only a couple of outsiders, either via trade or signings.

“We spent a lot of money last year, those guys are all young, they’re under contract,” Belichick said, referring to the signings of players such as Hunter Henry, Jonnu Smith, Kendrick Bourne, etc.

As for not re-signing cornerback J.C. Jackson, he said “We talked to all our free agent players, we re-signed quite a few, some we didn’t re-sign.”

At the start of the media session, Belichick noted he was “Looking ahead to this year, try to put the best team on the field we can in 2022.

“I’m sure each team is doing everything it thinks is best. That’s what we’re doing.”

That philosophy may include former defensive back Malcolm Butler, who re-signed with the Patriots after a stint with Tennessee and then spending last year out of football for personal reasons. The last time Butler was in a Patriot uniform, he was in tears on the sidelines during the Super Bowl loss to the Eagles after being benched for a reason that was never made clear.

“That’s old news,” Belichick said. “He indicated a desire to play this year, we worked through the process with Malcolm like we would every player. … Look forward to having him back.”

Belichick also has a new personnel man, the team’s former college scouting director Matt Groh.

“Matt’s done a tremendous job for us,” Belichick said of Groh, son of former Patriots assistant and Jets head coach Al Groh. “Very smart, very detailed, grown up in football, has had multiple responsibilities (in scouting); he put the draft together last year.

“With Dave (former personnel head Ziegler, who joined McDaniels in Vegas) leaving, we felt he was best person to step into the job. He’s as good as anybody we’ve had in that position.”

Groh may have had a role in negotiating the trade of Shaq Mason to Tampa, which Belichick said was done, as usual, in the best interests of the team. As for replacement, “We have a lot of competition,” he said. “We’ll see how it works out.”

He re-signed Brown to bolster right tackle, noting he missed half the season with injury.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to get more playing time for him this year,” Belichick said.

Belichick said he was glad to have McCourty, White and Slater back, and had several superlatives for Slater, saying that he was fortunate to coach perhaps the best player ever on offense in Tom Brady, defense in Lawrence Taylor, and Slater on special teams.

“Feel fortunate to have coached all the players, those three in particular,” he said.

As for whether he was surprised Brady unretired, Belichick at first dodged the question. Later, asked by another reporter, he said “Tom’s played a long time, nothing he does surprises me.”

Belichick added that while the rest of the AFC East has on paper improved, he’ll wait for any further changes before he reacts with even more moves to match up.

“It changes day to day it could change ay to day,” he said. “Spend a lot of time doing that now, you’re better of waiting to get the full picture and see how you want to address it.”\

“Just looking forward to this year. Got a lot to do. Not looking forward or looking back, just focused on the present.”

Are the Patriots at this point right now better or worse than the team that was humiliated by Buffalo in the AFC Wild Card round?

“We’ll find out next year,” Belichick said. “Some of the players we have on the roster will take a step up. We’ll have some new players. … It’s a new year for all of us.”

But, from a media standpoint, it’s the same Bill Belichick.