Bits from Belichick

[NewsZombieBot]

Patriots coach Bill Belichick held a conference call with reporters today (noon) and opened by saying: “Short night, but a good one, and I think everyone has a little bit of an energy burst here this morning and heading into this afternoon after last night’s game.”
A few items of note from Belichick:
1) Responding from adversity with energy. Belichick liked how the team bounced back. “To respond to everything – the trip, the San Diego loss and so forth – and play well, I thought we had some good energy out there and played aggressively.” Overall, Belichick said: “From game one to game six, there has been a lot of improvement with our football team.”
2) No injury updates. Belichick said he did not have any injury updates, although Boston Globe colleague Christopher Gasper confirmed that Rodney Harrison has a torn quad muscle and is out for the season. “It was difficult for all of us to watch Rodney to be carted off,” Belichick said. Asked later about the status of running back Sammy Morris, Belichick repeated that he had no information to pass along.
3) Eyeing the Rams. “They certainly have done well since their bye week, the last couple weeks,” Belichick said. “They played outstanding against Dallas and are probably playing as good as anybody in the league right now based on the last couple of weeks. They’re a very athletic team, and Jackson is a tremendous back. They have great skill players. They’re tough on defense and the kicking game, so we have a lot to get ready for on a team we don’t know very well. It’s a short week so we’ll have to hustle here to catch up.”
4) Green-Ellis made his mark in practice. Belichick talked about how rookie running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis performed well in practice on the scout team, emulating players like Jets running back Thomas Jones, Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown, and Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson. Of Green-Ellis’ performance against the Broncos, Belichick said: “I thought he ran with good vision, good balance, like he usually does in practice.”
5) Laurence Maroney follow-up. Asked about the decision to place Laurence Maroney on season-ending injured reserve, Belichick said it was based on a shoulder issue that the team felt wouldn’t be resolved by the end of the season. He would not specify if Maroney would require surgery.


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