Belichick: Talks Newton, Jones, ‘Challenges’ And More After Patriots Win Preseason Game One

The New England Patriots defeated the Washington Redskins , 22-13 on Thursday evening, giving them their first preseason victory since August 9, 2019. On that date, the Pats defeated the Carolina Panthers 10-3 at Gillette Stadium. In the wake of New England’s victory, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick addressed the media postgame (from the podium) and on Friday morning via video conference.

Although it may be preseason, Belichick and the Patriots coaching staff will undoubtedly take some pride in the team’s performance on Thursday. Earlier in the week, New England’s head coach lauded Washington as a “good football team” and that they are “well-coached.” Belichick also mentioned that he enjoys playing against Ron Rivera's teams in the preseason because they're “always fundamentally sound.”

The Patriots approached Thursday night’s game as a chance for their players to get into a rhythm, and make the most of the opportunity given to them.

Here are some highlights from Belichick’s post game and Friday-morning media meet:

Post Game — August 12:

On the performance of CB Joejuan Williams:

“I mean, made a nice play on the tip ball and ran it, made a couple nice tackles out there. We'll take a look at it and go through the film and all. But I thought our secondary competed well. We didn't have a lot of players back there. We were in a lot of four defensive backs the majority of the game, but those guys all responded, showed a good level of conditioning.

(Continued) “We lost Myles [Bryant] there in the fourth quarter, so we finished with four DBs, but yeah, Joejuan played some corner, played some safety. It's good experience for the guys that played. At positions where we were a little shorthanded, it gave an opportunity for those guys to play more, so hopefully they took advantage of it.

On the decision to no-huddle with Mac Jones to begin the third quarter:

“We would have gone two-minute at the end of the second quarter but we didn't have one, so we just went two-minute at the start of the third quarter.”

On the performance of rookie kicker Quinn Nordin:

“Yeah, I mean, we'll take a look at it. Hit a couple good ones, missed an extra point. It's all about consistency. Quinn has gotten better. He's worked hard. But again, it's really about consistency at that position. We're getting there. We'll see what kind of progress he continues to make.”

On Whether he considered challenging the negation of Jakobi Meyers’ would-be catch in the first half:

“Yeah, didn't feel like challenging it.”

From Friday, August 13:

On his main takeaways from Mac Jones’ performance on Thursday:

“I think its the same thing for everyone, but he is coming along. There are some good things, some bad things. We need to play quicker and process quicker as a team. Until last night, we hadn't had the live game exposure. The speed of the game for all of the rookie players is always a bit different, so we will continue to work on that.

On his thoughts regarding Cam Newton’s progress:

“We are way ahead of where we were last year. That has shown in practice and last night. But we will continue to work on fundamentals and game speed. We have a long way to go and we will work to improve in those areas.

On whether he has a baseline for moving forward on what to work on this week for Philadelphia:

“What we wanted to see was players playing in a live competition, and how they handle it. There will be some that make a big jump from this week to next…some will tail off…and some will stay the same. Having in-game experience is invaluable for everyone, because it gives us the chance to work on fundamentals, but also make adjustments on the sideline, halftime, pregame warmup, etc. Those are all experiences to build upon and we will build upon them from there.

On the streak of undrafted free agents (UDFA) making the roster, and whether there is a particular standout among them in the past 17 years:

“We’ve been fortunate in that area. We always try to bring guys in that can help our team, and succeed here. Over the years…Brandon Bolden, Jon Jones came in … and they did that. Not in one day, but over the course of a career. They established a level of consistency, trust and solid play on the field. Recently, Jakobi (Meyers), J.J. (Taylor)..they have done that. Guys like that earn their way onto the roster, and they deserve their spot.”

On Matt Judon’s impact on the defense:

“Matthew played a handful of snaps last night; got a good number of reps in camp. I’m glad we have him. He has a lot of skill in the running game, has a great work ethic, competes, and works hard. That is something that I know other players will try to emulate. He has been a good addition, I’m glad we have him on the team.

On the addition of Jonnu Smith to the offense:

He allows us to do a lot of things offensively. Jonnu blocks well.. runs well, catches well…he runs after the catch. He just has a great set of skills, and a great attitude and I'm enjoying working with him…I’ll continue to enjoy working with him.

On his main focus when evaluating preseason games:

“There are a lot of factors, timing, execution, tendencies, needs for improvement, etc. Maybe most importantly, we will try to factor in who each player was matched up against in addition to their individual performance.”

On what he would consider an ideal example of a ‘deep ball’:

That would be something that we’d spend an hour on in a quarterback-receiver meeting. It depends on a lot of factors…the snap, the read and of course the throw. The deep pass is one of the longest plays in football. There is a lot of stake on the result of that play and the finish of the play. From the time of the snap, to when the ball arrives at its target, there is a lot to factor. Most importantly, the timing. All of the types of deep passes (play action, clear out-route, go-route, etc,) come down to the finish of the play, assuming the ball is catchable.”

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