The Jacksonville Jaguars have won just two games since the season began. Not a daunting collection of NFL talent at this point.
But Bill Belichick, in hopes of maintaining a sterile environment for preparation before Sunday's game in Jacksonville, says he won't mention that the Jags stink.
"We dont talk a lot about records," Belichick said on a conference call Tuesday. "We just dont do itwe didnt talk about Houstons record or San Franciscos record or Jacksonvilles record. It doesnt really mean anything. What we do is we look at our opponent and try to analyze their strengths and the things that we have to do to be competitive against them and the areas of weakness that we feel like we can attack. Whatever their record is doesnt really matter. Those are against other teams, we didnt have anything to do with those games. Its how we match up against them.
"All our preparation and focus will be on what Jacksonville does well, what we need to stop and where we think we may be able to gain some advantages or have opportunities and how we can hopefully exploit those," Belichick added. "Thats really the way we approach every game. What the teams record isnt really very important because the most important game that were going to play hasnt happened yet."
Belichick said the Patriots are happy to return to a "normal" work week after playing prime-time games in three of the past four weeks.
"Its definitely good to be back on a regular schedule," said Belichick. "I think that all of usplayers, coaches, really everybody in the organizationyou kind of get used to a routine. You play on Sunday and you have that routine and then you play again on Sunday so you kind of know where youre at on Wednesday, where you should be in terms of your preparation, where you are on Thursday, whether youre ahead or youre behind in that preparation, where you are on Friday in terms of getting things done leading up to the game.
"When you change that game time or game date, whether its an eight-day week or a four-day week or a six-day week, whatever it is, youre trying to find your equilibrium there of where you are," Belichick added. "So like last week, on Wednesday, we werent the same point we usually would be on a Wednesday because having played Monday night, those type of things. I think its good to be in a routine and its good to be playing from Sunday to Sunday. I think just for today, on Tuesday, as a coaching staff we know where we normally are on Tuesday and I think that in terms of our preparation, our targets of where we need to be, what we have to have done, we can be there and then moving along . . ."