The Patriots' prep work for the Broncos is officially under way.
After spending a little time preparing for the Broncos last week, New England head coach Bill Belichick and his staff went headfirst into the Denver game plan Sunday night. The Pats host the Broncos at 8 p.m. Saturday.
"On behalf of the entire organization, we're excited to be playing in the divisional playoff round," Belichick said. "We have a lot to get ready for with Denver coming in here. That was a great win for them [Sunday], a really impressive game. We spent time on all three teams last week, and so now we very quickly got zoned in on Denver [Sunday] night and of course [Monday]."
The Patriots erased a nine-point deficit to rock the Broncos 41-23 in Week 15, so the two sides are very familiar with one another. The game plan should still be fresh, and that will be helpful on a short week.
Belichick gave his players three and a half days off — starting Friday afternoon before they return Tuesday morning to Gillette Stadium — but the coaching staff has stayed busy. The Patriots will conduct three full days of practices and meetings before a final walkthrough Friday.
"We have a lot of work to do [Monday] in terms of getting things finalized for the players when we get back on the field [Tuesday]," Belichick said. "Hopefully, we'll have a good week here and be ready to go Saturday night. We're trying to push through quickly here to be ready to go."
Have a question for Jeff Howe? Send it to him via Twitter at @jeffphowe or send it here. He will pick a few questions to answer every week for his mailbag.
