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In a way, Belichick’s new normal same as the old one

By Tom King - Staff Writer | Aug 1, 2020

Cam Newton? Jarrett Stidham? Or how about Michigan State product Brian Lewerke, cut and just brought back?

Pick your favorite QB and go with him in the post-Tom Brady era.

This is a new normal for the New England Patriots and their way of team building, too. Usually, we’d be hearing from Patriots coach Bill Belichick either before or after practice as training camp at Gillette Stadium would be underway.

Instead, of course, it’ll be awhile before players get out on the field, mid-August. Usually, we’d have seen Newton and Stidham on the practice field and drawn our own conclusions.

But instead, we heard from Belichick to open the 2020 camp/season on a computer or phone screen as he addressed the media via the video thingies that we’re all used to using these days. But one thing was the same: Quarterback? Hey all the jobs are up for grabs.

“Well, I think that spot is the same as all the other spots on the team,” he said Friday afternoon. “We’ve got a long way to go and we’ll see how things turn out.

“I can’t control how players perform. That’s up to them. We’ll give everybody an opportunity and see what happens. I don’t know.”

Belichick did admit the Patriots “spent quite a bit of time with Cam, and he spent quite a bit of time with us” during the courtship period before the former Panther stunningly signed with the Patriots a month ago. Belichick said the team talked to a lot of people to see if they were making the right move. “I think there was some mutual interest,” he said. “I’m glad it worked out.”

Well, there’s a bit of a revelation. But now what about Stidham? Would the team have pursued Newton if it had a chance to see – and like – what Stidham would have done in a “normal” off-season?

“I don’t know,” Belichick said. “It wasn’t that way. I don’t know if it had been different, if it would have happened differently. I don’t see why it would have, but I’m not sure.”

It doesn’t put the Patriots at a disadvantage, he said he felt, to not see players in OTAs.

“Everybody missed those,” Belichick said. “That’ what it is. That’s the way it went this year, and that’s the way it went in 2011 (during the lockout). Some years are different than other years. There’s nothing we can do about that. We can’t change it.

“We just try to make the most out of every opportunity that we get going forward. That’s all we can do.

The meetings were beneficial for all us , including the staff…I felt we did what we could do. We got a lot out of the opportunities we had. They were different than being able to go on the field and practice, no question about that. That’s what it was. We’ll try to continue to do that. We get opportunities, we’ll try to use them the best we can.”

What about no preseason? He can’t even use that to make an evaluation.

Big deal.

“That’s what all college football teams do,” Belichick said. “I can remember those periods of times leading up to a season, teams had their scrimmages or whatever you call them. Ways to prepare their team and at the same time evaluate the players and it’s a process that certainly goes into the early part of the season.

“This is just football, that’s all. I don’t see it any differently.”

So on we go. Belichick said he very much respected the decision of those Patriots, including the high profile ones, to opt-out of the season due to the pandemic. Should we expect more?

C’mon, you didn’t really think we’d find out on that one, do you?

“My crystal ball is kind of cloudy right now,” Belichick said when asked about any more opt-outs, “so I have no idea what will happen along those lines.

“I think everybody in the league, every team in the league, every player, every coach, everybody in the league is involved in that to some degree.

“So, we’ll just have to see how it turns out.”

You can say that about the quarterback spot as well. The New Normal is going to take some getting used to, but when it comes to early evaluations by one Bill Belichick, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.

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