Bill Belichick excited for the "unique experience" Patriots will get playing in Germany

FOXBORO -- The New England Patriots woke up Friday morning saying "guten morgen." The Pats flew to Germany overnight and are now gearing up for Sunday's clash with the Indianapolis Colts in a foreign land. 

After a quick adjustment to the time difference (with Germany six hours ahead of New England), the team got a tour of the facilities they'll practice at later in the afternoon. Head coach Bill Belichick showed few signs of jet lag when chatting with reporters Friday morning (or Friday afternoon in his new time) in Frankfurt.

"Good to be in Frankfurt. We had a good flight in and are just kinda rolling along here," Belichick told the throng of reporters at the German National Team headquarters in Frankfurt. "Beautiful facility, looking forward to getting out there this afternoon and wrapping up our preparations, be ready to go for Sunday.

"Are we doing pretzels for lunch?" he questioned. 

Belichick has visited Germany a few times and called it a great country with very friendly people. He also understands that the Patriots have a big following in Germany, thanks to German-born players like Sebastian Vollmer and Jakub Johnson wearing Patriots uniforms during their NFL careers, and hopes to put on a good show Sunday afternoon. 

"I hope we give them a lot to cheer about," said Belichick. "We appreciate all our international fans from all the countries. Frankfurt, Croatia, Spain, France -- we'll take them all."

This will be Belichick's fourth international game with the Patriots, having won a pair of games in London and one in Mexico City. Only Matthew Slater was around for the franchise's last trip to London, and Belichick says everyone involved understands how special it is to make a trip like this.

"It's obviously a unique experience. It's great for our team, our players, our staff. We've played a lot of NFL games and this will be a little different, like Mexico City and London were," said Belichick. "It's a good opportunity for our team, I think we'll make the most of it and enjoy it. We're obviously focused on playing well, and will hopefully go out there and play our best game of the year on Sunday."

With a day of practice ahead and a game to get ready for, Belichick wasn't sure if he'd be fitting in any sight-seeing on Friday.

"Kinda running on fumes here, so not sure how long I'll last tonight," joked Belichick.