Bill Belichick answers questions for the media before the weekend break.

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Tom Brady reveals one of the motivational tools used by Bill Belichick.

Q:  "Bill Bashing" - I've got to talk about that. Junior Seau said you're not a part of the team until you'd been "Bill-Bashed". He said it even happens to Tom Brady, but he said to ask you about it. Have you been "Bill-Bashed" before?

TB: Yeah. Randy calls it "You Tubed." We have practice on a Wednesday or a Thursday, and there you are the next morning on the big screen. You get in there pretty excited on a Wednesday morning or a Thursday morning, and then there're 30 plays of myself and Randy [Moss] and Wes [Welker], and he's going ‘What do you guys think you're doing here? This is you know what...' and using a lot of words I can't use here. He's tough on us, and I think it's for a reason. He always has a purpose in what he does and he's a very smart man and he's a great coach. He's just trying to motivate us to be the best we can be.

Bill Belichick talks about making good use of the Bye week.

Q: Is that basically what you do - self scout and throw out what's not working and get some guys up to speed, especially some of your young guys and guys coming of P.U.P.?

BB: That's right. We have some young players that have gotten a little bit of playing time, but we will continue to give them more reps in the bye week. And [it] also gives us a little more time to prepare for Miami. They've played seven games, so we'll get a pretty look at them and that will take some work there for what they do and the problems they present. It always comes at a good time, but I think it's a good feeling to come back from London. I'm glad we weren't facing a regular week this week after the trip back across the ocean.

No question.  Yes, we'll have to work on [the Wildcat.] That's one of the unique things that they do and we'll be able to get a little bit of a head start on that.

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Ugghh, no Patriots football.  Miami vs. NYJ will be the one to watch for me.  A Miami win will drop the Jets to 4-4 while bringing the Phins up to 3-4.  That seems ok to me.  Go Phins?  I need a shower...

First, an apology for not contributing and writing as much as you folks deserve.  Family issues have taken priority and, to be honest, sapped the creative writing vein that I depend on; I would be less of a son had I not walked away for a bit, however.  Many times, I sat down to write, but couldn't muster the brain power to "carry the water" as JohnHannahRules so aptly states.

I'm back and will be ready to blog the daylights out of our upcoming matchup against Miami.  The Phinsider crowd are always entertaining, to say the least, and this purports to be a great divisional matchup.

Hey gang,

on this typical New  England October night, a few thoughts:

• Bill Belichick really shouldn't have worn those shorts.  Granted, it was a sign of the times but...dayem!!
• Brandon Meriweather deserves AFC Defensive Player of the Week.  As humble as he tries to be, he's learned a great deal from one of the most feared defensive backs in the game - one Rodney Harrison.  Take Rodney's experience and put it in a young tiger's body.  Ladies and gentlemen, I give Brandon.  BOOM BABY!!  Bring on the pain.
• Tom Brady doesn't deserve AFC Offensive Player of the Month.  Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the fact that he got it.  But I think it's a bit of a sympathy vote.  You know, he's had to pull himself out of a hole to get where he is, so his battle has been that much harder than others.
• I'm going to adopt Wes Welker.  He told me in a dream that he doesn't want to live where that SMP guy does.  He likes it where I live.  What?  Light's out?  Take 2 of the green ones?  Ok.  Ok.  Just don't put that jacket on me again.
• Sebastian Vollmer doesn't need to learn english.  He just needs to drop defensive linemen on their backsides.  Which he seems to be pretty good at.
• I feel bad for Joey Galloway.  It stinks his career will most likely end on a sour note.
• If Julian Edelman doesn't get well soon, I'll adopt him, too.  He needs someone to take care of him.  I'll make him soup and get his favorite magazine and DVR his favorite TV shows...
• Scott Zolak needs to shutup when Bill Belichick is talking during the Belestrator.  Where's Mike Lynch?
• I hate bye weeks.  I might actually start watching rugby.
• I want every game, for the rest of the season, to be a flat out stompin' similar to the Titans.
• It's time for another Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA.  Mmm...hops.

From the SI Vault, a young 22 year-old Bill Belichick. Click on the link to see Ernie Adams, BB's partner in crime, standing beside him. The pants [and hair] are hysterical.

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Bill Belichick addresses the media before the Bye break.

We're just working on a lot of things this week in all phases of the game - offense, defense, special teams. Obviously, we've gotten started on Miami, but also a combination of things we need to work on generically, regardless of who we're playing and that's just kind of across the board. We need to work on everything, stay sharp and improve in every area.

It's a long season, a lot of practices, a lot of different situations. You get a new opponent every week. Things are always changing, so you try to just keep moving in the right direction and just keep improving and that encompasses a lot of things. I don't think right now is the time to be happy or sad; I think it's a time to analyze where you're at and try to make it better.

Ian Rapoport listened to Wes Welker explain his secrets to leading the league in YAC.

An essential facet, the 5-foot-9, 185-pounder from Texas Tech said, is understanding coverages.

"Knowing where defenders are, knowing which way to turn, when I need to get up field, and when I have a little more room to do something else with it," Welker said. "The main thing is securing the ball, getting it up the field, and trying to make something happen."

Welker has gained most of his 484 receiving yards after contact. He said film work has enabled him to find holes in a defense he didn’t really realize were there as a rookie or second-year player.

"I didn’t learn about coverages and understand them," he said. "I knew what they were on film, but I never understood what they were doing on the field."

"Obviously, [Tom Brady] is going to put it where I need to turn," Welker said. "He can see what’s behind me. He’s a really good quarterback. We understand what each other is thinking against different coverages, how he wants me to run the routes, and where he’s going to be putting the ball. It all goes hand in hand."

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It's funny.  Sometimes stories and ideas are abundant.  During the season, there's no lack for things to write about.  Game wrapups,  upcoming matchups, Q&A's with other bloggers.  It's a wealth of information right at the fingertips.  The long drought that is the off-season is a pain in the butt from a writer's perspective.  So isn't a bye week.  I'm not complaining, mind you, it gives one a little bit of a break.

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Brandon Meriweather ntercepts his second pass of the day against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Wembley Stadium.

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Laurence Maroney and BenJarvus Green-Ellis limber up for a tough stretch ahead.

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Bill Belichick talks about the Patriots running game against the Bucs.

I think what happened in the game was that they played us a lot of eight-man front. They dropped Piscatelli down in the box a lot and they were chasing hard off the backside. They gave us some problems coming from the backside sometimes. We started with a reverse, and ran another one fairly early and thought that that would slow them down a little bit, and we also tried to play-action them a little bit to try and take advantage of their aggressiveness in the running game.

So on a lot of those runs, they kind of had one more guy than we had blockers. There wasn’t a whole lot of room to run, to be honest with you, and we felt like the reverses and the play-actions would be able to take advantage of their aggressiveness in the running game, and we got something out of the reverses and we hit some play-actions. We could have probably hit a few more play-actions. But we didn’t. That was kind of the idea. It wasn’t more to take it off the running backs, as it was to try and slow down the pursuit. And they were coming hard off the backside.

Bill Belichick offers a strong defense of Laurence Maroney, when asked if he gets frustrated with him.

Not really.  Well, every player can improve, but Laurence has done a pretty good job of running the ball for us," Belichick said.  "I really don't have a lot of problems with Laurence.  What I'd like to see is for us to open bigger holes to create some space for these guys and allow them to run...  He can do a better job but we can block better and hopefully design more plays to get some space and get some yards."

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More photos » by Stephan Savoia - AP

12 days ago: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) gets away a pass during an NFL football game against Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Wembley Stadium, London, Sunday Oct. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

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I have a love/hate relationship with bye weeks.  On the love side, I actually get a gameday off.  Not that I don't love 12 hours of football, chatting it up with the faithful, and recapping the games - I do.  But, it's nice to get a gameday free every once in a while.  On the hate side, the Patriots news dries up to a dribble and we're left reporting what the players are doing with 4 days off.  It also reminds me of the dreaded off-season when you have to read stories about all the Patriots who have worn #47.

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Looks like a handshake deluxe to me - even has one arm around his shoulder. Shame on the Wall St. Journal.

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Michael Corkery (Wall Street Journal) What Goldman Sachs can learn from Bill Belichick.  This is another example of a myth being taken for reality.  The Wall Street Journal might want to do a bit of fact-checking before printing and perpetuating lies like this.  The Patriots were never accused of "covertly video taping" anything, let alone a "Jets practice to learn their plays."  Corkery and the Journal should be ashamed. (More photos of the 'event' here)

Perhaps Blankfein could learn a few things from New England Patriot coach Bill Belichick. The coach doesn’t care if people like him or his team. He frustrates reporters with terse, evasive answers in news conferences. His staff was accused of covertly video taping a New York Jets practice to learn their plays. And when he loses (like after the Pats’ surprise loss to the NY Giants in the Superbowl in 2008), he’s been known not to shake hands with the opposing coach. What Belichick cares mostly about is winning.

Bill Belichick on the value of QB Tom Brady.  We know it, but it's nice to hear it out loud once in a while.

Tom's comfortable. Of course he's got a comfortable runoff, doing it for nine years. Tom's the guy that works hard and every week he's such a positive player on our football team, both for himself, our team and the younger players, particularly a week like this with Sam and Brandon and even Matt Slater jumping in there taking a few plays. Nobody prepares harder than Tom. Nobody works harder than Tom. And all the success that he gets on the field he really deserves, because he puts so much into it and gives so much of himself for this football team. He's a great leader. He's a great worker. And I'm glad he's our quarterback. There's nobody I'd rather have than Tom Brady.

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