Bill Belichick will lead the Patriots defensive meeting room this year because the team doesn’t have a defensive coordinator, but he says his workload won’t change.
“I’m not going to take on more workload,” Belichick told Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston Monday. “It just might be distributed a little differently. That’s the way it’s been in the past. My workload hasn’t changed in the last 10 years.
“It’s been distributed differently, from year to year, or even within a year, within different timeframes of the year -- between personnel and football, or offense, defense and special teams as it relates just to football.”
Belichick stressed he believes job titles aren’t important, and things could change as the year wears on. Still, Belichick’s latest role seems to be a recognition that his attention is needed on defense after a few inconsistent years.
Belichick didn’t address who will call defensive plays or Adalius Thomas’ future, but he did speak on a number of other issues:
On his free agency strategy: “Some of the best players in free agency this year were Patriots. We re-signed a number of them, and a couple we didn’t.”
On playing on Thanksgiving: “I’m kind of excited about the Thanksgiving Day game . . . Those of us who have played those games in high school, especially in New England, that’s a big day for football.”
On how much longer he plans to coach: “I don’t have any number on it, but I’m excited about the 2010 team.”
The complete transcript can be seen here.