As much as we’d all like to think Bill Belichick is the living, breathing, walking example of Scrooge, that’s just simply not the case.
Bill is actually a big fan of Christmas. On Christmas Eve Friday, New England practiced inside Gillette Stadium around noon time with light snow falling and Christmas carols blaring throughout the stadium. Assistant coaches ran some red zone plays while players stretched at the start and Josh McDaniels chastised them for their lack of tempo.
The Patriots seem confident ahead of the massive game against the Bills on Sunday. Belichick and a few players spoke about the balance between football and family that’s required this weekend, including a slight schedule change on Saturday compared to a “normal” game week.
“Usually, game’s on Sunday at 1, we’ll come in on Saturday morning then go to the hotel Saturday night,” Belichick explained. “At times, on Sunday night games or late afternoon games we’ll come in on Saturday afternoon and then do a morning meeting on Sunday morning. With this weekend, we’re going to do the Saturday afternoon meeting schedule and then play at 1. We’re pretty familiar with Buffalo, we played them. few weeks ago. Not there there isn’t a lot of preparation to be done, but I feel like we’re in a good place and we can combine Saturday morning and Saturday night into one meeting on Saturday and we’ll be ready to go on Sunday.”
The in-stadium practice doesn’t really seem like a big deal on the surface, but it’s actually quite helpful for the players and another added layer to the preparation for this weekend. For guys like Jalen Mills who are experiencing their first December in New England, it’s a valuable changeup from the practice fields.
“It’s our home turf, you kind of get the feel for the stadium,” he said. “We’re deep in the season, but for me personally, I like it, especially at the end of the week. You just get the feel for the stadium, you see how the wind’s blowing, of course that could change on game day, but see how it’s blowing, how the turf feels and making sure you’ve got the right cleats on.”
As for the balance between Christmas festivities and last-minute prep on Saturday, Mills doesn’t think it’s much of an issue.
“When it comes to Christmas, I think it’s all about the morning,” he added. “Waking up as a kid growing up, you want to open all the presents and then have food and everything, but later in the evening, everybody’s usually chillin. There’s usually a football game on or something so everyone’s just chilling watching football. For me, that’s kind of what I’ve always done. Wake up, open presents, get some good food in then towards later in the evening we’re chilling.
“I think it’s going to be pretty normal.”
Mac Jones was definitely in the Christmas spirit on Friday too, surprising his offensive linemen with a plethora of gifts after practice. No one would reveal what they were, but Ted Karras seemed more than happy with the rookie’s selection.
“Santa Mac did (visit) and he did an outstanding job,” said Karras. “We got a big haul over here. I’ll let him explain everything that he got, but it’s a myriad of items, each one cooler than the next. One of the best efforts – especially by a rookie – to show appreciation and to wish us a Merry Christmas. Very thankful to him and glad to be his teammate here in this Christmas season.”
While Jones, Belichick and the rest of the team open gifts on Saturday morning, they’ll be doing so just like you and I would. Bill won’t be in the basement of Gillette watching film. Mac won’t be reading his playbook while breakfast gets cold. The Patriots are human after all and seem to be striking the perfect balance between family and football with so much on the line this weekend.
“I think our more experienced players, Matt (Slater), Devin (McCourty), High (Hightower), David Andrews, guys like that, we’ve talked about it and they’ve talked about it in individual rooms and collective rooms about our preparation for the game,” added Belichick.
“At the same time, it’s an important day for our families and for our kids, so it’s part of life. There’s definitely a balance to it. It’s a little different week than a week during the year. Thanksgiving has a little relevance to it, but Christmas falls on a different day every year. It’s a little different, but I’ve been in the league and been through however many Christmases that is. We all know what we’re here for and at the same time there’s another important part of life that goes on too.
“It’s balance and working things out the best you can. Knowing we’ve got a huge game, divisional matchup with Buffalo we’ve worked hard and put a lot into this season and a lot’s riding on this game, so we all want to do the best we can and balance some other things this week.”