FOXBORO -- Bill Belichick said something during his press conference on Wednesday that may have been intended as a way to quickly move on to another question. But in some ways, it only raised prompted more questions.
Asked about his working relationship with Tom Brady this year, Belichick said, "Every year is different." On Friday, the follow-up was, what makes this year different?
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With the Boston Globe reporting that Tom Brady's body coach Alex Guerrero has had his access to the Patriots restricted, that topic seems pertinent. Guerrero is Brady's business partner and one of his best friends, and Brady has credited his work with Guerrero for allowing him to thrive on the field into the late stages of his career.
The Globe explained that Brady is still allowed to work with Guerrero at Gillette Stadium, but if other players want to meet with Guerrero it will have to be at the TB12 shop Brady and Guerrero operate about a five-minute walk from the Patriots locker room at Patriot Place.
Belichick indicated that any changes have not impacted Brady's preparation in a negative fashion.
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"Different teams. Different players. I mean, [Brady] is great to work with," Belichick said. "Nobody's better prepared than Tom. Obviously always ready to go, always on top of it. Really takes coaching well. Got a lot of good ideas. But each year's different. Our team's different. Our players are different. Our opponents are different. Every week's different."
Asked specifically if the Guerrero situation had altered the working relationship between head coach and quarterback -- the Globe wrote that "the development has created some friction in Foxboro" -- Belichick questioned the sourcing of the Globe's story.
"This is another with no sources, right? I'm not gonna get into that," he said.
Belichick would not comment on whether or not Guerrero's access to the Patriots has been restricted. He has in the past referred to Guerrero as being similar to any outside party with whom a player consults, and he expressed a similar sentiment Friday.
"Look we have a lot of people that work for our team outside of the team," he said. "There's different relationships, different situations with dozens of other people. So I'm not going to go through it case by case on what everybody does and so forth. That would be impossible to do. Not going to do it."
Part of the dynamic with the relationship between Guerrero and the Patriots is how his ideas clash with those of the team's medical, training and strength and conditioning staffs. There has long been tension there based on differing viewpoints, but by restricting Guerrero's access, Belichick has in a way shown Patriots employees his support.
Asked specifically about Moses Cabrera, the team's head strength and conditioning coach, Belichick praised the work he's seen from him.
"Great. He's been great," Belichick said. "Does a great job. Our team's in good condition. They're strong. They're in condition. Train well. I think he gets the most out of them."