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FOXBOROUGH – While their division rivals added talent ahead of the NFL trade deadline, the New England Patriots stood pat and didn't make a trade. New England, sitting at 4-4 on the season, reportedly had several players that other teams inquired about, such as offensive lineman Isaiah Wynn and wide receiver Nelson Agholor. Patriots coach Bill Belichick was asked if the team was close to making a deal, but he made one thing clear: the deadline is in the past and he's focused on Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts.
“We're done. The trade deadline's over,” Belichick said Wednesday. “We're moving on. Colts.”
When Belichick was pressed a bit more on whether the team was close to making a move, he scoffed at the notion.
“Nothing happened, so, we're moving on,” Belichick said. “I don't even know what close means. What does that mean? … I've had conversations that have gone on for months nothing happened and I've had conversations gone on for six-to-10 minutes and a trade gets done. I don't know what that means.”
Belichick did point out though that the team added a pair of players (rookie offensive lineman Hayden Howerton and veteran punter Michael Palardy) to the practice squad on Tuesday and that while the trade deadline has passed, that doesn't shut the door on making any moves throughout the rest of the season.
“We're always looking to improve. We added a couple practice squad players this week,” Belichick said. “It'd be hard for me to say there won't be any roster changes between now and the end of the season. I think that'd be a stretch. But I don't know, who knows? We'll see how it goes.”
Obviously, the free agent market has limited options compared to the trade market. Though, the Patriots' inactivity at the deadline could be a sign of multiple things. Maybe it means they don't believe in the team enough to be buyers. Or maybe they believe in the team enough that they don't want to move any players, either, and are comfortable with what they've got.
As the season's roughly at the halfway mark, Belichick was asked if he knew more about the team now than he did in the leadup to the regular season, when he said that he wouldn't know much about his team until several games in.
“We know a lot more now than we did two months ago for sure, yeah. Of course, you learn something every day, every week,” Belichick said. “We've got a lot more under our belt – keep working and improve things all the time. Some things we're doing better. We've been attacked by different teams in different ways. You learn a lot from that. It's a challenge every week.”
Bill Belichick Live Press Conference 11/2: https://t.co/atrW2dbb9R
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) November 2, 2022
Belichick didn't necessarily tip his hand though when he was asked what his team's strengths are and brought the focus back to Sunday's matchup against the Colts.
“Well, it's really just a matchup against the Colts. How we did against somebody else may or may not be relevant. I don't know. Right now, I'm just focused on the Colts,” Belichick said. “Fundamentally, we work on the things that need to make us better. Schematically, same thing, we've made some adjustments. Players, they've had to make some changes and adjustments too – all for what we think will make us better.”
The Patriots were thrown a bit of a wrench in their evaluation process this season when quarterback Mac Jones went down for three games due to a high ankle sprain. Belichick downplayed Jones' singular injury on having any effect on the process, though.
“There's always changes. There's going to be changes next week. Look, every team's got changes every week,” Belichick said. “Take a look a the injury reports, everybody's got somebody on them. It's usually more than one. Someone on injured reserve. Things happen. Things change. That's the National Football League.”
After he played his first full game since injuring his left ankle in Week 3 on Sunday, Jones said that he and the offense put in extra work ahead of their Week 8 win over the New York Jets. Belichick said that Jones wasn't exclusive in doing that, but shifted the focus again to the upcoming game instead of the past.
“I think everybody put in a little extra after the Chicago game. I think we all did, we all needed to,” Bill Belichick said. “… I think everybody did – short week, grinding. I think the team stepped up and responded to the short-week challenge against a good Jets team. But we're done with the Jets. it's time to move on. We don't need to worry about last week.”
