Bill Belichick has some very good advice about training camp

Training camps are underway around the NFL, and it’s everybody’s first true football fix since the Super Bowl in February. While it feels like a monumental milestone, Bill Belichick wants to remind you that what you’re seeing now doesn’t mean as much as you might think it does.

On Friday, Belichick — who is usually short-winded with his answers (except when it involves actual football) — delivered a long speech on why the early parts of camp don’t really matter.

Belichick makes some great points. To attempt to make a true evaluation off of a player with little to no contact is nonsensical:

“So I know everybody’s all excited when a guy catches a pass, but when the defense doesn’t jam him or they’re not allowed to really, because we don’t have heavy contact out there, aren’t competing for contact at the end of the play then it’s not quite the same as when all of that’s going on.”

In other words, even the average Joe walking down the street has an opportunity to complete such plays. You can’t evaluate some of the best athletes in the world on less than half speed plays.

As Belichick so eloquently put it, “It’s hard to evaluate how they’re doing competitively against somebody else when it’s really not a competitive situation.”

This is essentially what Belichick was getting at:

*shrug emoji*

The Patriots have been the most consistent team in the NFL during the Belichick era. They’ve made the postseason 14 out of 17 of his seasons — one of them they were left out with an 11-5 record. Sprinkle in five Super Bowls, and the Patriots have been the NFL’s best franchise for the past 16 seasons.

It’s fine to enjoy training camp (and if you’re a Patriots fan looking for coverage, hit up Pats Pulpit), but don’t give it more meaning than it deserves. Real football will be here soon enough.