Patriots Must Adapt to Change

[Smizzy]

Here we go again

Once again, Belichick, Patriots must adapt to change

Posted: Monday August 1, 2005 12:03PM; Updated: Monday August 1, 2005 12:03PM

FOXBORO, Mass. -- When Bill Belichick got his first look at his New England Patriots in their initial practice of training camp on Friday morning at Gillette Stadium, here's what he saw (or didn't see):

No Charlie Weis.

No Romeo Crennel.

No Tedy Bruschi.

No Ted Johnson.

No Ty Law.

No Joe Andruzzi.

No David Patten.

And at least temporarily, due to a contract holdout, no Richard Seymour.

We're not mind readers, but we're pretty sure that Belichick's reaction to all those disappearances could be summed up thusly: No problem.

OK, maybe no problem's a stretch. But certainly no panic. No hand-wringing. No dropping back into a mental punt formation on the 2005 season. After all, these are the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Patriots. Team Ever Adaptable. Absolutely no one in the NFL does change like the guys with the Elvis look-alike on their helmets.

If there has been a theme to the Patriots' four-year glory era, it's their version of teamwork in which everyone is replaceable and no loss is too great to overcome. Where other teams tend to fear change, the Patriots seem to embrace it.

It's just this year, everyone seems to be wondering if they finally have too much to wrap their arms around.

"I think you have to embrace it because it's inevitable,'' Belichick said. "Change, that's a part of it. To ignore it or to try to refute it or make time stand still, I think that would be a bigger error. You take what you have and try to make it the best you can, whatever that is.''

Taking what they have and making it the best they can is what the Patriots excel at. The pattern started in early 2001 when Tom Brady stepped in for an injured Drew Bledsoe and won it all. It continued in 2003 when popular safety Lawyer Milloy was released just days before the season opener -- a move that didn't keep the Patriots from winning their second Super Bowl ring. And it was driven home like last year, when New England won a third crown despite playing most of the season without its starting cornerbacks (Law and Tyrone Poole), with receiver Troy Brown in the secondary.

Will the Patriots keep the good times rolling this year, with all those losses and all those defections? Not even Belichick or Brady will hazard a guess at this point. It's August, and the story is just beginning to unfold.

"There have been quite a few changes,'' Brady said. "I don't know how we're going to deal with them. I don't think anyone knows. I'm just going to do the best I can do every day. You can sit here and make excuses and say, 'Wow, we're really going to have a hard time.' But you know what, times change.''

Belichick, of course, is a master at his living-in-the-moment mantra, never looking back, never looking further ahead than this week. No matter how significant the change his team is facing, he greets it with a patented shoulder shrug and a "what-can-you-do?'' visage etched on his face.

"If we had been standing up here last year and you told me that Troy Brown was going to play over 200 plays at cornerback, I would have said, 'You must be in another galaxy somewhere. There is no way that would happen,'" Belichick said. "Yet it happened. It all happened, if you think about it, pretty logically, just the way it transpired.

"Who knows? I wish I could tell you. If I did, it would make our job a lot easier if I knew what things we would have to deal with. Like [four] years ago, if you would have told me that Brady would have started 15 games or so, I would have never dreamed that.''

We know a few things about how these Patriots will deal with their many subtractions. They will replace Bruschi and Johnson (who retired last week after 10 NFL seasons, surprising the team) at inside linebacker with a combination of Chad Brown, Monty Beisel and some part-time help from outside linebacker Mike Vrabel. They will ask first-round pick Logan Mankins to step right in at left guard where Andruzzi lined up. Duane Starks is on hand to take up the slack left by Law's absence, and the 34-year-old Eric Mangini has drawn strong reviews thus far as the new defensive coordinator, in place of Crennel.

As for the play-calling duties offensive coordinator Weis once held, the triumvirate of Belichick, Brady and quarterbacks coach Josh McDaniel are said to all have a role to play. We'll see.

Taken together, it sounds like a nearly insurmountable obstacle to the Patriots becoming the first team to ever win three consecutive Super Bowl titles and four in five years. But when all the variables are broken down into more bite-sized challenges, the kind New England seems to thrive on, the Patriots should be considered as dangerous as ever. This is one instance where track record definitely factors into the mix.

"This is probably the most change we've ever had here,'' safety and team leader Rodney Harrison said Saturday. "But you've got to keep stroking. It's always a tough transition when you deal with change, but we still have a lot of key veterans here, guys who know how to handle adversity.

"Obviously the last few years we've been pretty good at dealing with it. But we won't know how we're going to deal with it this year until we get out on that field and find out if we're able to continue to win ballgames. If we don't go out there and win ballgames, then obviously we didn't deal with it very well.''

If the wins do keep coming and the Patriots keep the victory train moving, then we'll re-learn an old lesson: In New England, the only thing that never seems to change is the frequency of change itself.

[PatsFanTX]

Just a few more minor obstacles to the road of another Super Bowl.

[gg]

Just a few more minor obstacles to the road of another Super Bowl.

ya know TX... tickets to the SB are hard to get. I dont thing bellichick and brady are going to be comfortable sitting in the stands with all that green and white

[Maxman]

Belichek will never win another SuperBowl.

You heard it here first.

[joewilly]

Belichek will never win another SuperBowl.

You heard it here first.

actually I heard it on gangreen.com just the other morning

kidding man. I agree the pats have a monumental task in front of them this year.

if abe comes in & stays healthy, I like the jets chances of winning the division. our defence will be sic.

[PatsFanTX]

Belichek will never win another SuperBowl.

You heard it here first.

Wow, I guess BB's poor past performance allows you to make that bold prediction.

Kinda like Hermy's performance, huh Max.

[The Troll]

Wow, I guess BB's poor past performance allows you to make that bold prediction.

Kinda like Hermy's performance, huh Max.

I know several Pats' fans love to point out that Bill Parcells has no rings without Bill Belichick. It should also be noted that Bill Belichick has never won anything without Weis and Crennel by his side, neither of whom were there to comfort Belichick in his failed tenure as Browns head coach.

[Maxman]

Wow, I guess BB's poor past performance allows you to make that bold prediction.

Kinda like Hermy's performance, huh Max.

That is why it is a Bold Prediction my friend. Going out on a limb. I know that Beli was carried by Charlie. Yet nobody else seems to see it.

In 10 years when Beli is long gone you will say.... damn that Max he sure was gay. But he knew his football.

[Smizzy]

I know several Pats' fans love to point out that Bill Parcells has no rings without Bill Belichick. It should also be noted that Bill Belichick has never won anything without Weis and Crennel by his side, neither of whom were there to comfort Belichick in his failed tenure as Browns head coach.

He won't respond to this.

[PatsFanTX]

He won't respond to this.

BB has yet to lose even one game without CW and RC.

Happy now Smizz?

[Maxman]

BB has yet to lose even one game without CW and RC.

Happy now Smizz?

He lost consistently without them.

We call that, "The Cleveland Years".

[PatsFanTX]

He lost consistently without them.

We call that, "The Cleveland Years".

BB's coaching career really didn't began until he was with a great organization and great owner.

Not some Pop Warner team in the Midwest.

[The Troll]

BB has yet to lose even one game without CW and RC.

Happy now Smizz?

You're right. He hasn't lost one game without CW and RC. He's lost 44!

[Garb]

I think the Pats will have an easier transition time than the Jest will. BB and Company aren't implementing any new systems. 'Dinger is. Tom Brady is a seasoned, Savvy veteran - Chad isn't even healthy. Mangini has co-authored the defensive schemes for years now.

The biggest blow to the Pats is - and this is without question - Tedy Bruschi. On the field, in the lockeroom, in the film room and on the bus.

[Jetsfan80]

That is why it is a Bold Prediction my friend. Going out on a limb.

Considering only ONE coach in NFL history (Chuck Knoll) has EVER won 4 Super Bowls, saying Belicheck will never win another Super Bowl is NOT a bold statement.

[Smizzy]

BB's coaching career really didn't began until he was with a great organization and great owner.

[PatsFanTX]

Let me expand a little for you Smizz.

In Cleveland, BB was coaching a second-rate NFL team to gain valuable coaching experience for when he actually took over a team with a great organization.

To put it in simpler terms for you, kinda like what Hermy is doing with the Jets right now.

[Jetsfan80]

Let me expand a little for you Smizz.

In Cleveland, BB was coaching a second-rate NFL team to gain valuable coaching experience for when he actually took over a team with a great organization.

To put it in simpler terms for you, kinda like what Hermy is doing with the Jets right now.

That would be true, except that the Jets DO have the talent, and after Herm is done here, he will be flipping burgers at Wendy's, not taking over for another team.

[The Troll]

Let me expand a little for you Smizz.

In Cleveland, BB was coaching a second-rate NFL team to gain valuable coaching experience for when he actually took over a team with a great organization.

To put it in simpler terms for you, kinda like what Hermy is doing with the Jets right now.

When Belichick (Weis and Crennel) got there, that "great organization" was set to become the pride of Hartford.

[Smizzy]

Let me expand a little for you Smizz.

In Cleveland, BB was coaching a second-rate NFL team to gain valuable coaching experience for when he actually took over a team with a great organization.

To put it in simpler terms for you, kinda like what Hermy is doing with the Jets right now.

So now NFL coaching careers only start after you get a HC job and win something? I doubt the Browns front office thought BB was just playing coach when the paid him money.

Must be nice to see the world with your head crammed up your ass.

[PFSIKH]

ya know TX... tickets to the SB are hard to get. I dont thing bellichick and brady are going to be comfortable sitting in the stands with all that green and white

You think the Eagles are going back to the Superbowl? I can see that I guess. :wink:

[LionelRichie]

BB and Company aren't implementing any new systems. 'Dinger is. .

that's not entirely accurate. dinger is on record as saying he is keeping most of the terminology in place just adding some of his own. he used to run a system in Denver with the same terms hackett used so he is familiar with most of what the jets used.

[StillerPaul]

So now NFL coaching careers only start after you get a HC job and win something? I doubt the Browns front office thought BB was just playing coach when the paid him money.

Must be nice to see the world with your head crammed up your a$$.

Actually, Bellichick did have the Clowns contending and even had them in the playoffs in '94. If memory serves me, Crennel was an assistant under him back then as well.

[PFSIKH]

Actually, Bellichick did have the Clowns contending and even had them in the playoffs in '94. If memory serves me, Crennel was an assistant under him back then as well.

Let's be clear on Belichick's Browns' tenure.

Belichick got a terrible and old Browns team.

He gutted the team and doubled their wins his first year. The defense improved dramtically the first year and was the team's strength for his five years there. Once he found a QB, the Browns made the playoffs and he bested Par$ells' Patriots in the wildcard game. His last season, he rallied an injury ravaged team and had them in the hunt before Modell sabotaged his efforts by announcing the teams' move to Baltimore.

Looking at Belichick's tenure in Foxboro, you can see he learned from his mistakes. From the media, to the handling of players and the team, he is alot better at day to day things then he was in Cleveland.