Patriots Training Camp: No need to sell us, coach; in Bill we still trust

Jul. 28—There have not been many sell-jobs here in the Belichick years with the New England Patriots.

Let's be honest. To Bill Belichick's credit, he cared little what the "know-it-all" types in the media — local and national — had to say. He owed us all nothing except production, and the man delivered with several exclamation points.

Tom Brady? A salesman? Nope. He went out and played quarterback then told you nothing after he did it, much to his coach's delight.

So why the heck do I feel like this Patriots offseason — OTAs, mini-camp and as of Wednesday, training camp — has been one, giant series of Belichick pop-up ads?

Yes, Bill, by now we all subscribe to "Patriots Prime."

Covering this football team since 2000, I can count on two hands the number of times Belichick spoke about a player like he did about Mac Jones Tuesday on Zoom.

Wednesday at training camp, Mac answered in the lovefest, telling the world how special it is that Bill presented him with Joe Judge and Matt Patricia as replacements for Josh McDaniels.

Again, who is buying this? and why all of a sudden is this deemed necessary?

Last time I looked, I could put my future great-grandchildren's name on the waiting list for season tickets — and they still probably wouldn't get them. The Patriots, even without Brady and worse without a playoff win since the 2018 season, remain the dominant force in Boston sports.

Yet, here's Dollar Bill, pushing all of his wares regularly.

"I think Mac's done a great job. He's worked extremely hard. He's got a tremendous work ethic in all areas. I think there's a dramatic improvement. His physical work and conditioning, working on his mechanics, working on his footwork, working on his understanding of our offense, of opponents' defense, of situations all those things," said Belichick. "He's made tremendous strides. He did a great job last year but he's starting it from a much much higher point this year than where he started last year. His offseason work has been significant. I think everyone recognizes how well he prepares and how much further along he is than he was a year ago."

And ...

"I think I've said many times, I think Matt and Joe are two outstanding coaches in every sense of the word whatever those duties entail. They're very good, exceptional at the entire gamut. I'm glad we have both of them. They do a good job," he said.

He got some help trying to close the deal, too, from his quarterback.

"I think obviously Coach Belichick's done a great job kind of explaining exactly what we want to do as an offense, and Matty P has seen so many different defenses along with Coach Belichick, so it's like they combine their knowledge of how to attack the defense. That's something that's really stood out to me," said the QB Jones. "They're great guys who, and Coach (Joe) Judge, they all bring this different energy to the room when they're presenting. So, they all are trying to get us to work together and that's the most important part, is we're all on the same page regardless of who's talking, who's making the decision on a play or what not and it's always an open conversation which I love."

We get it Bill. You like these guys.

It's just a little depressing, though, that Belichick feels like he's got a trunk full of Ginsu knives and he's running a booth to dump them at the Topsfield Fair.

Bill, you've won six rings here. Pats fans trust you implicitly. You don't need this.

I was there, at the old Foxborough Stadium, the Wednesday after Mo Lewis KO'd Drew Bledsoe.

Belichick calmly talked about the second-year man Brady stepping in and doing his job.

There was no sunshine, no rainbows, just the next man up. Belichick was 0-2, coming off a 5-11 season, coming off an absolute mess in Cleveland.

Maybe he didn't know what he had in Brady. Maybe he was worried, but he didn't sell Brady to us. He just coached.

That was before the dynasty, before those six titles.

If ever a franchise needed a sales pitch, it was the teetering '01 Pats. Bill just coached.

Once, since 2000, I remember Belichick needing to justify his team or his roster or his amassed talent.

It was 2006 when he tried to tell the world that he could win with Tom Brady throwing to Reche Caldwell, Jabar Gaffney, Doug Gabriel and Chad Jackson.

He was adamant, in fact incredulous, about his receivers. and he was 100 percent wrong.

After a gross AFC title loss in Indy, he brought in Randy Moss and Wes Welker for 2007.

My only hope now is that Belichick is not trying to convince himself as he pushes the 2022 Patriots, more specifically Mac Jones and his offensive coaches.

Look at this roster. There are a lot of holes and even more questions. It's a group that needs the best Belichick.

And it needs him now.