Patriots excited by Monday Night Football spotlight despite matchup with lowly Bears
FOXBORO — Cue the music.
That familiar jingle ushering in the last game of the week. That tune everyone in football not only knows, but grew up listening to in primetime. The Monday Night Football theme song.
The Patriots played the Monday Night Football music to open their first practice of the week, a reminder their next game will carry a little extra flare, even as they prepare for the lowly Bears. Even Bill Belichick drew on childhood memories Friday, when asked what Monday Night Football meant to him.
“Usually you waited up till halftime, watched the highlights and then went to bed. At least that was my routine, if you could make it that long,” Belichick said. “Great part of the development of the National Football League and football. Certainly, put a lot of excitement into Monday night, that probably wasn’t there before.”
This Monday, the Patriots are expected to handle the Bears, who will visit Foxboro as 8.5-point underdogs. Naturally, Belichick has played up this year’s Chicago team as a reincarnation of the ’85 Bears, who famously crushed the Pats in Super Bowl XX. Whether or not pumping the Bears’ tires works, Patriots players seem to have found motivation in the primetime spotlight and the opportunity to leap above .500 before a national audience.
“That’s a big game. Everybody watching, all eyes on you. But you’ve gotta prepare … the eye in the sky never lies,” said Pats outside linebacker Matt Judon. “It’s just going to be a lot more film, a lot more cameras, a lot more media people at the game, and a lot more people talking about it just for one night.”
Patriots safety Devin McCourty noted that after that one night, players and coaches will be a day behind on their preparation for their next game at the Jets, a division game that will carry more weight in the standings than Monday’s showdown versus Chicago. McCourty also said that’s something he’s cared about more as a veteran, when recovery takes longer. However …
“Any time you get to play Monday it’s cool,” he said.
Fellow captain Deatrich Wise agreed.
“It’s exacting. The world’s watching, so it’s pretty cool. Being a kid watching Monday games or any time of night football, it was always cool just to hear that theme song play,” Wise said. “I won’t personally hear it on the field, but I’ll know it’s being played. And it’s just awesome playing Monday night, so I’m looking forward to doing that.”
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/PJViYkK
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