Following the New England Patriots’ 18-12 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday, coach Bill Belichick hammered one specific point home as a reason for defeat.
Following COVID-19 outbreaks within the organization, Patriots did not get to practice much leading up to Sunday’s game, with one full practice and one walkthrough. The organization had to close the practice facility on Saturday as a result of new positive tests.
As a result, it showed at times on the field. New England often looked unorganized on both sides of the football in what was a difficult day for the team. Belichick indicated that the lack of practice was something that hurt the Patriots leading up to Sunday’s game.
“Well it was a big challenge,” Belichick said postgame. “Playing without guys, getting guys hurt, moving around, had some guys that hasn’t played together much, hadn’t practiced together much. So we need to get on the field, we need to practice, we need to develop some continuity as a team, but especially (on the offensive line).”
Practice came up a few times during the postgame press conference.
“We need more time together, we need to practice together, we need to execute and do everything better. No question about that,” Belichick said.
Again.
“Nobody’s practiced, I mean we all need to do more practice, we need to get our execution levels up a lot higher,” he said.
And again.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to practice this week,” he said. “We certainly need it. We’ll see.”
It will be interesting to see how the Patriots bounce back next week, as they face a depleted San Francisco 49ers team. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:25 PM.
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