Clearly, not everyone is a believer in coach Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots’ early-arrival strategy ahead of their Week 1 matchup against the Miami Dolphins.
The unorthodox game preparation has already been laughed at by Dolphins cornerback Keion Crossen. Now, it’s being called a “desperation move” by ESPN analyst Bart Scott, during Tuesday’s episode of “Get Up!”
Not only does Scott think the move won’t work, but he believes it could ultimately backfire on the Patriots.
“I think this is a desperation move,” said Scott, via NESN’s Adam London. “You’re trying to change the narrative, right? You understand that you struggle in South Beach. South Beach is undefeated because you have to fight the elements. But now you’re taking your team down to an environment where you have to have some disciplined veterans.
“You can have bed checks all you want — five to nine (o’clock), there’s a lot of things that goes down in Miami. It’s going to take a lot of discipline. I worry about you maybe dehydrating your team early in the week. It’s like going to camp for the first time and maybe dehydrating. There’s not enough Pedialyte and pickle juice in the world to make sure you can overcome some of those elements.”
It’s a well-known fact that the Patriots have struggled in the past with the incredibly hot and humid conditions in Miami.
So it’s a bit odd that people are suddenly making a fuss over the team attempting to change things up a bit and see if a new approach works. There have been stories in the past of athlete’s traveling to locations with high altitudes in an effort to get more acclimated with the environment before competing.
It’s really no different than what Belichick and the Patriots are trying to do on Sunday.
