Patriots
Belichick additionally praised Christian Gonzalez, evaluating his interception towards Tyreek Hill to a catch Hill made towards the Patriots in 2022.
The Patriots fell to 0-2 after Sunday’s 24-17 loss to the Dolphins for the primary time since 2001.
The house defeat — Invoice Belichick’s fifth in a row towards Tua Tagovailoa — was the results of one other shut sport selected slim margins.
“Robust sport,” Belichick admitted throughout his Monday morning interview on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Present.”
“We had our probabilities, we simply weren’t capable of do sufficient,” he defined.
Mac Jones accomplished 31 passes for 231 yards, with a landing and an interception. The Patriots offense, nevertheless, struggled to get going early. It wasn’t till the fourth quarter that Jones and New England discovered the top zone.
Following one other sluggish begin within the Week 1 loss towards the Eagles, Belichick touched on what he needs to see when it comes to enchancment.
“Want to point out we will transfer the ball right here. We have to do it for 4 quarters and never have these inconsistencies,” he mentioned in the course of the interview.
Whereas answering a query concerning the offensive line’s lack of ability to generate operating lanes, Belichick pivoted to a big level of dialog: What he thinks the Patriots’ most urgent subject has been in its opening video games.
“Clearly the most important factor that’s harm us the final two weeks has been turning the ball over early within the sport,” he famous. “We’ve had three turnovers early within the sport the final two weeks. That stops you greater than something. Two of these three circumstances, we have been transferring the ball. The opposite was the primary play of a drive. However we have been transferring the ball after which gave it away, in order that’s actually on the high of the checklist.”
The Patriots completed the sport with two turnovers, yet one more than the Dolphins (who turned it over by way of a Tagovailoa interception).
Concerning Christian Gonzalez’s interception — made by leaping over Dolphins huge receiver Tyreek Hill — Belichick praised the rookie cornerback.
“Gonzo learns on a regular basis,” Belichick mentioned of Gonzalez, who New England picked within the first spherical (seventeenth general) within the 2023 draft. “Good child, actually pays consideration. Tries to do what you ask him to do.”
“It was actually an impressive interception that he had,” the Patriots’ coach continued. “It was form of, a little bit bit just like the play that got here up in Miami final yr the place Tyreek got here up and form of took the ball away from us. It was a little bit bit completely different play, however similar thought.
“That is one the place Gonzo went up and took the ball away from Hill, so it was a very good play,” Belichick mentioned. “Not solely a breakup, however made a superb catch and hauled it in. However there have been different protection performs that he had. Clearly he’s gone up towards among the finest receivers within the league the final weeks and people experiences will repay for him down the street.”
On the message he’ll give the Patriots this week, Belichick reiterated that it’ll stay the identical regardless of the crew’s begin.
“Identical message each week,” he mentioned. “Go on the market and go away all of it on the sector after which when it’s over, watch the movie, right the errors after which prepare for the Jets, have an awesome week of preparation, after which go down there and be able to play our greatest soccer.”
After being requested about Demario Douglas’s lack of enjoying time following his fumble within the first half of Sunday’s sport, Belichick — reiterating his response in Sunday’s postgame press convention — emphasised the significance of taking good care of the soccer.
“We discuss ball safety on a regular basis,” he replied. “There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t discuss it, and the times on the observe subject, we all the time work on it [and] discuss it as issues come up throughout observe. Either side of the ball: Taking the ball away and taking good care of the ball. These are constants for everyone.
“We spend lots of effort and time on it,” Belichick added. “We’ve obtained to do a greater job.”
Requested a follow-up about why Douglas didn’t come again into the sport, Belichick (after stating that Douglas did return as a punt returner) defined that the crew moved on to different gamers on the depth chart given the significance of not turning the ball over.
“We have now different talent gamers on offense too,” Belichick mentioned. “There’s nothing extra vital than ball safety.”
Join Patriots updates🏈
Get breaking information and evaluation delivered to your inbox throughout soccer season.