FOXBORO, Mass. -- Players talk ad nauseum about Bill Belichick's work ethic.
Some Patriots report to Gillette Stadium as early as 5:30 in the morning. Others will watch film at the facility until midnight or 1 a.m. Belichick, every one of them says, has been in the building at each end of that spectrum. They know there are nights when Belichick sleeps at Gillette, and some Patriots have wondered -- seriously, jokingly, whatever -- if he ever leaves.
See, that's the thing about Belichick, who in the last decade has unquestionably become one of the greatest coaches to ever walk the sidelines. When everyone else is sleeping, or tweeting, or playing Madden, or lounging around, Belichick is studying the game, whether it's that week's opponent or one of his old playoff itineraries. He is always working to implement improvements for the good of his team's success, and he's always been willing to adjust something he thought he once screwed up.
That's why his players follow him and fight for him. They believe in Belichick -- that he has put in the work that week to study every last detail to put them into position to maximize their ability.
"You see his work ethic," Patriots captain Jerod Mayo says, "and if you try to match it, you might not make it a couple days. He's always working."
Obviously, 14 wins aren't about the occasional day off, and so many times this season, Belichick has deferred all of the credit to the players. There's a lot of merit to that, too. Players win games on Sundays, while coaches get it done Monday through Saturday.
Those six days, Belichick's players say, are the most captivating. They'll bring pens and pads to every meeting and write everything -- really, Deion Branch says, everything -- down and revisit it later. Even if they don’t understand what he's talking about, the BIC hits the Five Star, and they'll do the research at their earliest chance.
"He's so good," safety Patrick Chung says of Belichick's meetings. "He just gets you prepared. It's hard to explain. You just learn. We learn. As far as being in there, you're going to learn, and you're going to learn fast. You're going to learn efficiently. He's a good coach. He gets you right."
Belichick's players always wax poetic about his situational preparation, and that happens throughout each day, either in meetings, on the practice field or as he strolls through the locker room. What are you looking for on second-and-5? Who do they like to blitz on third-and-8? When do the Jets run behind Dustin Keller? What gap do you take in the Wildcat? Who has the corner's help when he's lined up on Reggie Wayne in the nickel? When is the quarterback most likely to use a hard count?
"He's asking us questions about what's going on, who we're playing, making sure that we're well prepared," linebacker Rob Ninkovich says. "It's just the repetitiveness of hearing certain things that he talks about, maybe two minutes to go in the half, or the final minute of the game, maybe those are things that other teams don’t emphasize."
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