You may have heard Bill Belichick say this before … for every long week, there's a short week.
Yeah, well, this week's the long one; next week'll be the short one.
But before the long week begins, we have to recover from a short turnaround from last night in New York. The team got back to Gillette around 3:45 this morning, and while BB was available to talk with reporters earlier this afternoon, players were given a welcome extra day off.
They'll need the rest, as they have an extra day at the end of the week to prepare for the next opponent, Kansas City. The Patriots will entertain what looks to be the Matt Cassel-less Chiefs next Monday night. New England's former backup got injured yesterday and reports are indicating he'll be out of commission for the return engagement to Foxborough.
Tomorrow, players are off, as always. Team PFW still be here, though, with Fred, Paul, and Andy shooting this week's PFW TV (tune in Thursday night at 7:30 on Comcast SportsNet New England) and hosting "PFW in Progress" on patriots.com radio starting at noon.
Conference calls are scheduled with BB, offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien, and personnel man Nick Caserio. Andy and Paul will handle anything newsworthy that comes from that. Bill is back on Wednesday for a live presser. Player interviews and practice updates will be posted here Wednesday and Thursday.
The schedule isn't entirely set yet for Friday and Saturday (yes, the team will be practicing then), but whatever it is, we'll cover it. And our radio programming continues Wednesday and Thursday afternoon, as always.
Come Monday night, two hours and 15 minutes before kickoff, join Andy and Paul as they host the Pre-Game Social on the Patriots Facebook page (6:15-8:15 p.m. Eastern this week).
If you find yourself still in the afterglow of New England's 37-16 victory over the Jets, we understand. Get your fill by reading my post-game analysis on patriots.com.