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Belichick On Gresh & Zo: 'We're Heading In The Right Direction'

BOSTON (CBS) -- Patriots head coach Bill Belichick joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Gresh & Zolak on Tuesday morning, ahead of the team's joint practices with the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium.

The Patriots will once again hit the field with another team, as they did last week with the Washington Redskins, giving them some more valuable practice as they prepare for the regular season.

"Every practice is important whether it's by ourselves or with another team," said Belichick. "We don't have a lot of time and we have to take advantage of every opportunity we have; meetings and on-the-field-practices, the four preseason opportunities we have. We have to get as much out of them as we can. Working against another team like Philadelphia, who has a completely different roster and matchups with their players, also they give us exposure to a different scheme, particularly their zone-option offense. It gives us a valuable opportunity to work against that a lot better than we could simulate it ourselves.

"It's a great opportunity for us and we'll try to make the most out of it."

When asked what he liked most about the 2014 Patriots, Belichick said it usually takes until the middle of the season to get a good handle on his team. But so far, the coach has been very impressed with the squad's work ethic.

"These guys have worked hard every day. They haven't made excuses or tried to get out of anything; they have tackled the challenges head on. It's been good effort and they've been coachable in that they've taken instruction from coaches or veteran players and tried to apply it and tried to get better," said Belichick. "I see a lot of improvement from individuals and also different units of the team. We'll see how that plays out in the big picture, but I feel like we're heading in the right direction."

The Bill Belichick Foundation will host "A Hall Of Fame Huddle" next week at The Boston Harbor Hotel, where Belichick will chat with Patriots Hall of Famers Tedy Bruschi and Troy Brown about their playing days in New England.

"We'll talk football, we'll talk some great plays, great teams and experiences that Tedy, Troy and I shared together. We'll watch some film of great plays they were involved in and how they happened."

Scott Zolak will emcee the event, which takes place on August 20. You can get tickets for the event and more information about The Bill Belichick Foundation here.

Just don't expect to see anything about the event on social media from the coach.

"I don't do instantface and photoface, whatever they are," said Belichick.

Bill Belichick On Gresh & Zolak

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