Belichick leaves door open for Develin in the backfield

In Bill Belichick?s Sunday conference call with the media, he discussed James Develin, the offensive line, and working with the New Orleans Saints. He also talked about his reluctance to take too much out of what happens in preseason games.
Belichick left the door open when asked if Develin, a 6-foot-3-inch, 255-pounder, could play an expanded role this year.
?Sure, I think every player has an opportunity to find his role on the team,” he said. “James is a tough kid. He?s very smart, tough. Assignments are really never a problem with him. He?s been very dependable and durable. He?s physically strong and that helps him as a blocker or occasionally as an inside ball carrier, and he?s got good hands and he catches the ball well. So, he?s got a lot of things going for him.
?He works extremely hard and on a day-to-day basis, he?s one of the most dependable players we have.”
When asked to rate the play of the special teams against the Green Bay Packers in the preseason opener last Thursday night, Belichick said it?s too soon to tell.
?First of all, I don?t think you can really rate anything in preseason,” he said. “You spend a lot of time in practice and in meetings trying to prepare your team to particularly do the fundamental things in the preseason games that will serve as a base for you throughout the game, no matter what the actual scheme is.
?We definitely have some things to work with in the kicking game,” he continued. “We looked at a lot of young players. Many of the players that have played a lot in the kicking game for us or even with some other teams that are on our roster didn?t play very much ? some didn?t play at all in the kicking game against Green Bay. So this week against New Orleans and going forward, those guys will get more opportunities and we?ll start to evaluate them.”
Belichick was asked about Saints head coach Sean Payton and what information, if any, they have shared. The two teams will meet Saturday night in New Orleans.
?I don?t really think that?s that significant right now,” he said. “What Coach Payton and I have talked about is what we want to try to get done and I think that really centers around taking the things that we?ve installed and they?ve installed and work them against a different scheme and different group of players and try to evaluate those.
?This really isn?t a game plan. It?s more evaluating individual players against different matchups and letting your players learn the execution of the plays against a different type of defense or against a different type of offense than what we?re seeing over the last two weeks from ourselves. . . . So, that?s kind of the way we?ve structured the practices. We?ve had a good working relationship with the Saints and with Sean, his staff, and the entire organization, and we just want to get better, they want to get better, and we want to work with each other so that we can both do that.”
When asked how he thinks the offensive line has been playing despite giving up seven sacks against Green Bay, Belichick noted there?s still work to be done.
?The offensive line, we?ve got some young players that got a lot of reps and we?ll see how they?re coming along,” he said. “We have several veteran players that over the course of training camp haven?t taken a lot of reps for one reason or another. So, I think sooner or later those players will factor into the equation as well.
?In the meantime, it?s giving a lot of younger players an opportunity to come together and show us what they can do and learn from their mistakes and maybe improve on them. I think at this point in camp for all players, not any particular player and not any particular group, we?re going to see mistakes.”Mike Alongi can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @m_alongi.