Bill Belichick, New England Patriots Enter Second Week Of Prep For Denver Broncos

The bye arrived a week earlier than planned for the New England Patriots.

It arrived after what was once a 1 p.m. ET kickoff at Gillette Stadium had been flexed to 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday. And after what became a 5 p.m. ET kickoff on Monday was then moved to next Sunday afternoon.

Amid eight schedule changes around the NFL, the Denver Broncos remain on the horizon. But head coach Bill Belichick knows the timeline remains tentative.

“Well, I’d say the way it worked out last week, we felt like we were going to be playing with one day of practice,” Belichick said Monday on WEEI’s Ordway, Merloni & Fauria. “So, I think that affected a little bit of our installation and our game-planning to a degree. Now we have a little more time and also a lot of preparation time. We put a lot of preparation time in last week, not very much field time or practice time, but a lot of preparation time.”

The Patriots stand with four players on the Covid-19 reserve list. Positive tests from cornerback Stephon Gilmore and practice-squad defensive tackle Bill Murray followed quarterback Cam Newton’s leading up to the Kansas City Chiefs matchup, after the team flew out to Arrowhead Stadium in two planes from two airports and flew back the same day.

In response, the Foxborough facility remained closed Wednesday through Friday. And in the hours after the Patriots returned to the fields shadowing it, the news of defensive tackle Byron Cowart’s test surfaced Sunday morning.

It’s a brief bye now for the 2-2 Patriots. The 1-3 Broncos, having practiced throughout last week, have another week to do the same.

With the possibility of additional reinforcements.

Denver listed starting quarterback Drew Lock as questionable for Week 5 due to a shoulder injury. Tight end Noah Fant, sidelined by an ankle injury, was among those ruled out. And New England designated a handful as 50-50, with the inclusion of a former NFL MVP in Newton and the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year in Gilmore not required on the injury report.

“I think we know Denver very well, as I’m sure they feel like they know us based on the games that we’ve seen this year,” Belichick said. “And there may be some injury changes based on the extra time of who’s available and who’s not available, as well. Key players, one way or another, could affect things, too.”

Patriots players are expected to be back midweek. The active roster sits at 49 out of 53. And the point spread sits at nine, according to BetOnline.ag.

Things are subject to shift.

“I wouldn’t say that it’s just Xerox everything from last week and just change the dates on it and hand it out,” Belichick told WEEI. “I’m not sure that’s where it is. I certainly wouldn’t characterize it as starting all over again or something brand new. But I think this is going to evolve a little bit probably for both teams in terms of game-planning but also managing some players that with the extra week their status may have changed, or may potentially change from what it was, what it would have been if we were playing tonight.

“We’ll just have to see how all that plays out, but I think there’ll probably be some changes there.”