New England Patriots Links 8/10/10 - Saints Are In Town To Kickoff Preseason

Eric Scalavino gets Bill Belichick's explanation on how the joint practices with the Saints will work.

"We’re going to start apart at the beginning of practice and warm up and go through whatever individual periods or drills or group periods each team wants to do," Belichick explained, "and then we’ll come together and start working, probably about maybe one third of the way through practice and then we’ll work together the rest of the way."

The benefits of having another team to practice against are that, when the teams get together for 11-on-11 and 7-on-7 activity, the level of competition naturally increases and there’s more of an element of surprise to contend with, as neither side is as familiar with the other team’s plays and schemes.

Tuesday’s double session features a morning practice from 9-11, and an afternoon workout from 3:45-5:30. The two teams are expected to be in pads for at least one of the practices, which should mean there’ll be some all-out hitting and some lighter tackling.

"It will be a combination of both," Belichick continued. "We’ll do some individual drills. We’ll do some group drills and then we’ll do some team drills – offense, defense, special teams. I think we will get a chance to look at everybody.

"We’ll do down-and-distance situations. We’ll play those situations however we play them and they’ll play them however they would play them. We’ll probably practice at team tempo that I think both teams use."

Paul Perillo talks about the NFL officials annual visit to Foxboro and offers his Monday afternoon practice notes.

The most interesting development will be the change of positioning for the umpire, who will move from the middle of defense behind the linebackers to the offensive backfield opposite the referee. The only change to this will be on field goals and extra points, and, interestingly, the last two minutes of each half.

Smith explained how coaches believe this will change the game a bit as it will be more difficult for the officials to spot the ball quickly. This will come into play specifically when teams such as the Patriots and Colts use their hurry-up attacks. Smith explained that the umpire will now be 15 yards behind the line and therefore further away from the ball at the completion of a play.

TEAM TALK

• Patriots kickoff Preseason against Saints. Broadcast info, series history, team connections and more.
• Andy Hart offers his observations from practice 19.
• Patriots Today - Pats back in action on Monday (2.31 min. video)
• Patriots Today - Belichick, Payton conduct walkthrough. (45 second video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Mike Reiss talks about the Patriots welcoming the Saints for joint practices this week, and how they'll work.
• Ian Rapoport notes Leigh Bodden is back on the practice field injury-free with "no concerns", and has no memory of any touchdowns scored by the Saints last season.
• Ian Rapoport says the Patriots' secondary can learn a lot from the Saints.
• Monique Walker says Thursday's preseason game against the Saints will be a good test for the team.
• MIke Reiss takes a closer look at the NFL rule changes for 2010.
• Ian Rapoport notes Dan Connolly is up for the challenge of competing for Logan Mankins' spot at left guard.
• Karen Guregian reports that injuries are already posing a serious threat for the Patriots.
• Karen Guregian reports that the Tom Brady-Robert Kraft dynamic appears to be on solid ground, with the two chatting Monday after spending Sunday together on the golf course.
• Mike Reiss wraps up the key storylines from Day 10.
• Karen Guregian wonders if Laurence Maroney has fallen in the depth chart.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Peter King (SI) MMQB: Excitement is building in St. Louis; Texans are fighting for Cushing.
• Tim Graham and Mike Reiss (ESPN) AFC East Discussion. ( 5.42 min. video)

Sorry for the short links page this morning.  I'm heading off now to the Saints-Pats practice at 9:00 AM and will report back here afterwards.   Just for the record, I'll be attending the 3:45 PM practice too so feel free to post anything you'd like me to watch for.  We'll just hope the threat of thunderstorms will stay just a threat.