Patriots Training Camp Week 1: All Smiles at Gillette

It’s officially been one week since the Patriots opened up training camp signifying the start of football from now until Super Bowl 53, where the Pats will play in their fourth Super Bowl in the last five seasons.

We may only be a week in, but there’s something different about this camp. Something eerie about the mood around Patriot’s Place. Everyone seems, dare I say, happy. That includes the deity himself, Bill Belichick.

Image – Patriots Twitter

The idea that football isn’t “fun” in New England has been everyone’s favorite slant as of late. It’s been the go-to narrative for anyone trying to smear the good name Belichick.

So what does Bill do? He did what he always does. He saw the strength in the opposition, in this case the media, and eliminated it with some fun games and a hearty smile at the end of practice.

You can catch the devious smirk at 0:37.

If at first you don't succeed…

Highlight of the night from @iwynn77. pic.twitter.com/lZvhbGOq1B

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) July 31, 2018

That’s why there will never be anyone better than Bill at what he does. I’m not just talking about coaching. I’m also talking about managing people and an organization.

Belichick knows exactly when to ignore the media and outside factors and when to use them and manipulate them. If he wants to send a message to the team he uses it as fuel. If he wants to not only ignore the media, but eliminate their narrative all together, then he’ll set up a team-building activity and flash a big smile for the camera in the process.

Bill’s puppeteering of the media was one of the big positives to week one. But it would be wrong to not address what some believe to be negatives of week one.

The first was the interview Brady walked out on.

Tom Brady ended his Saturday press conference after being asked about Julian Edelman's suspension and relating it to Alex Guerrero pic.twitter.com/LDfdWqAtC2

— NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Coverage (@NBCSPatriots) July 28, 2018

Let’s get one thing straight before I get into my thoughts on Tommy walking out. If Tom Brady wants to leave a press conference, then he will do so whenever he wants, no matter the question. He’s a quarterback, a father, a husband and a God all at once. The man has shit to do, he can’t sit around and talk to microphones all day.

With that being said, I don’t see how anyone can spin this into Brady dodging questions or storming off. He answered the question. He said that the accusation was ridiculous. And from every indication, it would make sense that it is an erroneous and unsupported attack on a man’s character.

Alex Guerrero may come off as a weird dude with his odd methods, but he’s helped athletes in a wide variety of sports. More importantly, many Patriots players, and obviously Brady, swear by him.

It may seem like junk science at times, but Brady is proof he must be doing something right. And his track record would say it has nothing to do with PED’s. That’s on Edelman to fix his reputation now.

The final news, which wrapped up week one, was the release and injury of Jordan Matthews and signing of Eric Decker.

Patriots released former Eagles and Bills WR Jordan Matthews, as @globejimmcbride reported.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 1, 2018

Patriots expected to sign former Titans’, Jets’ and Broncos’ WR Eric Decker to a one-year deal, per sources.

And it’s neither here nor there, but is there now a better looking QB-WR combo in the NFL than Tom Brady and Decker?

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 2, 2018

For starters, the news of Matthews’ injuries sucks. He looked like he really had something left in the tank, but Decker is a wash if not a bit of an upgrade from Matthews so it’s hard to complain about how things worked out.

It’s hard to tell if Decker will fit in on the field, but if there’s one man that could revive his numbers it’s Tom.

The real addition here is to the WAGs of New England.