Patriots move on

Belichick focusing on next season

NFL. Bill Belichick repeatedly said during the season he would wait until the year is over to reflect on what the Patriots have accomplished.

Now that the smoke is starting to clear from the Pats’ Super Bowl loss to the Giants, Belichick would rather look forward.

“It’s a disappointing end to a lot of good things that happened this season,” he said yesterday. “The players did a great job all year long. We played a lot of good football, but we’re certainly disappointed about the way it ended. We came so close, but it just didn’t work out.

“It takes a lot to get to this point, but we’re starting all over into the ’08 season. It’s already time to move on. We’re into the offseason, and that’s just the way it is, so we’ll start moving ahead toward next year.”

Belichick has yet to watch the tape of New England’s 17-14 loss on Sunday, but he noted he will as part of his evaluation process of the season. Instead, the Patriots’ head coach has focused his energy toward free agency and the NFL Draft, in which the Pats hold the seventh overall pick.

He also cautioned some of his aging veterans to hold off on their decisions over potential retirement. Linebackers Junior Seau and Tedy Bruschi, strong safety Rodney Harrison and wide receiver Troy Brown could potentially hang it up this offseason.

“How those players feel now and how they might feel a week from now, or two weeks from now or a month from now could be entirely different,” Belichick said without using any player by name. “Certainly, I’ve seen that in my career as a coach, and I’ve had feelings after a game that after a period of time have shifted a little bit, too, for various reasons.

“I personally wouldn’t put too much into anything that happens soon after the end of any season, good or bad.

Immediately after a particular game, a lot of times those are emotional decisions and not really good fundamental ones.”