LaFell Reveals Glimpse Of Belichick's Coaching Strategy; Belichick Disagrees With Player's Assessment
BOSTON (CBS) -- The curtain at Gillette Stadium has been peeled back a bit more than usual this week. First, the team broke character by releasing an official statement together with the Gronkowski family on the injury status of Rob Gronkowski. For a team that has guarded such information like state secrets over the past 15 years, it was an odd turn of events.
Then, on Wednesday, wide receiver Brandon LaFell revealed some of what head coach Bill Belichick does behind the scenes in terms of getting his players ready for the next opponent.
"Man, the crazy thing about it is we haven't seen none of those touchdown passes on film," LaFell said when asked if he was "licking his chops" thinking of the 10 touchdown passes the Eagles' defense has allowed in the past two games. "Bill don't show all that, man. We've just been seeing all of them causing turnovers, these guys making plays, the defensive line led by [Fletcher] Cox, getting to the quarterback and stuff like that. We haven't seen all the touchdown passes they've been giving up. We've been seeing all the takeaways they've been having."
When pressed futher, LaFell reiterated that the Patriots' film session focuses much more on the Eagles' strengths than weaknesses.
"He's going to show us how to get open and stuff like that, but for the most part he's got us focusing on taking care of the ball, blocking their front four, beating man-to-man coverage and finding ways to make plays," LaFell said.
On Friday morning, Belichick was asked about LaFell's characterization.
"Well, I wouldn't agree with that statement," Belichick said. "You should ask Brandon LaFell if I've ever shown any of our opponents missing a tackle. Just ask him that."
Belichick then said his film sessions include both the areas where the opponent is vulnerable and the areas where the opponent is dangerous.
"We show plays that are relevant, whatever they are. There's good plays, there's things that we think we could take advantage of," Belichick said. "So ... I mean ... whoever we play, each team has strengths and weaknesses, each player has strengths and weaknesses, we try to identify those and give examples of how they could come up in the game or will come up in the game."
It's probably safe to assume there won't be any joint statements coming out from the LaFell family and the Patriots any time soon, but in the meanwhile, LaFell will apparently be watching film of broken tackles.