New England Patriots 4 Downs: Week 6 vs New York Giants

1st Down: Will a short week hurt New England?

One week after facing the Washington Redskins on the road (in what easily could have been considered a pseudo-home game for the Pats), New England returns home with very little time to prepare for another NFC East foe: the New York Giants.

During his press conference Tuesday, head coach Bill Belichick really talked up the Giants as a franchise, heaping on the praise for several of their star players. Here’s some of what he said, per the Patriots’ official team website:

"“We certainly have a lot to get ready for with the Giants… [Saquon] Barkley, [Evan] Engram, [Darius] Slayton’s made some big plays for them, [Cody] Latimer. So, they do a good job. Coach [Pat] Shurmur does a good job of using all his personnel.”"

Of course, Belichick didn’t know at the time that both Barkley and Engram would eventually be ruled “out” for this contest. New York announced that both players will miss tonight’s game against the Patriots, along with a laundry list of other key offensive weapons as well.

With that being said, he also addressed the short week that faces his team:

"“We’re rolling on a short week here. I think the players have tried to do a good job of trying to get rested, get treatment, get rehab and then be ready to go Thursday night… We’ve got a lot of work to do. Get started here today, get as much that we can get done today and finish up tomorrow and then it’ll be time to get ready to go. So, we’re off and running.”"

Hopefully Belichick and his group of veteran players like Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, Devin McCourty, and others will be ready for this game. New England does prepare better than anyone else in the league.

Plus, the Patriots are used to a short schedule like the one they face this week. In fact, in their last 14 games on Thursday Night Football, the New England Patriots are 12-2.

Here are some of Brady’s comments from the same Tuesday press conference (again via the official team website):

"“I think it’s really about what it always is – whenever you play Thursday night, Sunday night, Monday night, you have that amount of time, same amount as the other team typically, unless they’re in a bye or something like that. So, just try to utilize the time as best as you can. I know for me, the game ended; I started thinking about the Giants.”"