Patriots coach Bill Belichick held his day-after-game news conference this afternoon at Gillette Stadium, and he expounded on first-round draft choices Chandler Jones and Dont'a Hightower.

Jones and Hightower combined for the play of the game -- a second-quarter strip sack by Jones that was recovered by Hightower and returned 6 yards for a touchdown (story here).

Belichick was asked how both players have mentally picked up the Patriots' defense.

"I'd say that Dont'a has a lot of responsibility at his [linebacker] position relative to formations and adjustments, pass coverage, run responsibilities and all of that, but he did a lot of those things at Alabama and played a couple of different spots in their defense, which has some similarities to what we do. So I think he was very well coached and schooled when he got here. He's a smart guy and he's picking things up pretty well.

"Chandler, less experience, but probably less variables at his position, although there are still plenty of them -- probably not to the degree that Dont'a has as a regular and nickel linebacker, and all of those things.

"I think both players have recently done a good job of that. They're both smart. They've worked hard. And they've both been out there, they've both gotten a lot of reps on the field. So that's always a good way to learn, to experience it, go through it, make a mistake, correct it, and go out there and do it again and get it right. There is a lot to be said for that, and those guys -- really, a lot of our young players -- have had the opportunity to do that. That's been positive.

"Those two guys, they've done a good job there."