New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has been complimentary of the Las Vegas Raiders’ facilities, as the two teams get set to face off on Friday.
The facilities themselves cost around $75 million and feature the Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center, where the Patriots are practicing for the week. Needless to say, this has left Belichick impressed to the point where he’s been raving about it since the team’s arrival on Monday.
Tuesday marked the second straight day he complimented the facilities, ahead of the Patriots’ joint practice to take on his old friend and former offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, and the Raiders.
“Facilities here are incredible. This is the Taj Mahal of football facilities,” said Belichick, via Sean T McGuire of NESN.com. “It’s a great environment, looking forward to being in the stadium. Of course, we come back out here in the regular season. It certainly looks like they’re ready for football. Stadium looks good, facility looks good, and they have a good team. And a good coach. And a good staff. So, I’m sure it’ll be very competitive.”
The Patriots look to go on a two-game winning streak in the meantime. After losing to the New York Giants in the preseason opener, they bounced back with a win against the Carolina Panthers last Friday. A Belichick-McDaniels reunion provides an intriguing subplot for the preseason finale.
New England defeated the Raiders by a 36-20 margin the last time these two teams met. Although not a regular season contest, this game will provide a test before the team goes to Miami for the regular season opener.
