Bill Belichick Press Conference Transcript

Interesting comments here from BB on kickoff returns. One of the more surprising non-moves of the off-season was not bringing in a kick off returner.

Q: On the kickoff returns, what did the statistics show you last year in terms of the ball being moved up? Was the number of returns dramatically reduced? What are your thoughts on how that affects the value of the returner?

BB: The number of returns was down and there was a higher percentage of those [touchbacks] earlier in the year than later in the year when the weather wasn’t as warm, conditions weren’t quite as favorable, then percentage-wise there were more balls returned but still less than in the past. We didn’t return them very well in any conditions at any time and still haven’t based on the New Orleans game. That’s obviously an area that we can improve in, that we have worked hard in but based on the results still need to do a lot more work on. Important area in the game, it’s a big momentum play, it’s a way of answering the opponent’s score or start of the half, whatever the situation is there. It’s a big play in the game and an important play so we put a lot of stock in that just like we do every other play.