Patriots coach Bill Belichick gave players Saturday off after a productive week in Atlanta. When the players return to Gillette Stadium on Sunday, they will begin the process of shifting into more of a regular-season type mode.

Belichick has traditionally done this over his coaching career – trying to create as close a simulation as possible so players and coaches know what to expect come the regular season -- and many teams around the NFL treat this week of the preseason similarly.

Belichick explained Friday on a conference call that he takes such an approach after learning from Ted Marchibroda with the Baltimore Colts in 1975.

“My first year with the Colts, we had six preseason games, and I’d say after the first preseason game – and we had a preseason game [to look at] of our next opponent – those were all like regular weeks,” Belichick said. “Marchibroda had brought that from George Allen, and by the time we got to the regular season, I certainly knew what the regular season routine would be as far as breaking down film and doing preparation work and practice and those kind of things.”