FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- If visual confirmation was needed that Bill Belichick still gets a rise out of what he does in his 44th NFL season, it came at 9:36 a.m. ET on the first Sunday of training camp.
Early in the New England Patriots’ fourth practice, Belichick had been watching his defensive ends and outside linebackers in a run-defense drill. Under the shadow of the goal posts, he let his position coaches lead the way as he kept his distance.
Then, as Deatrich Wise and Eric Lee teamed up in an attempt to ensure a running play didn’t get to the outside -- which is referred to as “setting the edge,” in Patriot-speak -- he saw something that caught his eye and jumped into the drill with urgency.