Patriots head coach Bill Belichick soaked in some lacrosse at Gillette Stadium over the weekend, as the Premier Lacrosse League kicked off its season in New England.
Belichick has always had a special place in his heart for lacrosse, playing in high school at Phillips Andover and collegiality at Wesleyan University. He spoke about his love of the game on the NBC Sports Network broadcast on Sunday, and also gave a scouting report on how some of his Patriots players would fit on the lacrosse field.
Though some of them would make solid players in Belichick’s mind, he didn’t sound so optimistic that quarterback Tom Brady’s success on the football field would translate to lacrosse. Asked what position Brady would play, Belichick said the quarterback’s mobility issues would limit him to just one position. “Goalie,” Belichick said without missing a beat. “You need to be able to run here. I think some of our players, like Devin McCourty and Pat Chung, guys like that who are fast and have good quickness could play at 200-205 pounds, 210 pounds, somewhere in there, that they would be pretty tough. I think [Tedy] Bruschi would have made a good defenseman. Rodney Harrison and [Mike] Vrabel, guys like that who are long and tough.”
The Patriots have their mandatory minicamp at Gillette Stadium this week, so don’t be shocked if Belichick has a few lacrosse drills added to the mix this year. If that’s the case, it’s clear that Brady will be in net for those drills.