FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — A quick hitter of thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. Coaches fly with Eagles: Most Patriots coaches did not attend the NFL combine this year, joining a growing number of teams that are looking for more productive ways for coaches to spend their time. One example of how the Patriots did so last week was the defensive staff visiting Boston College’s spring practice.
Third-year BC coach Jeff Hafley, whose career includes stints as a defensive backs assistant with the Buccaneers (2012-13), Browns (2014-15) and 49ers (2016-18), was asked the question: What does a day look like when the New England staff visits?
Hafley, 42, provided background on how BC’s defensive coordinator, Tem Lukabu, has a longtime connection with Patriots outside linebackers coach/playcaller Steve Belichick from their time together at Rutgers. And Hafley also spent the 2011 season at Rutgers when Belichick was a long-snapper.
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“Tem said they had been in touch and wanted to come by and watch practice. I said, ‘Yeah, of course.’ They got here early in the morning. Steven popped in — shoot, he was probably here before 7 o’clock in the morning. It was good to catch up with him. When I was in the NFL, we talked a lot — common opponents, thoughts, ideas — and picked each other’s brains. But since I got here [in 2020], because of COVID, it’s kind of like ‘I haven’t seen anybody.’ So it was good to reconnect with him.
“Then they all came into our team meeting, and also our position meetings — linebacker coach sat in linebacker meetings, DB coach sat in DB meeting. Then they came to watch practice, and when we watched film as a defensive staff, like everybody else does after practice, they watched with us and asked us some questions and…
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