competitiveness Womens Danny Etling Jersey , but also stressed that more work awaits." NFL preseasonPatriots Game ReportsBill Belichick stresses that Patriots still have a long way to go despite competitive performance against LionsNew,13commentsRelated: Jakobi Meyers still feels he has a lot to prove after a strong preseason openerEDTShare this storyShare this on FacebookShare this on TwitterShareAll sharing optionsShareAll sharing options for:Bill Belichick stresses that Patriots still have a long way to go despite competitive performance against LionsTwitterFacebookRedditPocketFlipboardEmailPhoto by Rey Del Rio/Getty ImagesGame one is in the books, three more are left to go — at least during the preseason. When it comes to the New England Patriots, this means that there are three more chances for the coaching staff to evaluate a deep roster heading towards the regular season. The players, on the other hand, have three more opportunities to improve and state serious claims for roster spots. So far, most of them are off to a good start.With few obvious exceptions, the team looked strong in all three phases during its 31-3 blowout win over the Detroit Lions on Thursday night. Head coach Bill Belichick echoed this sentiment during his postgame press conference: “We’re under way. First preseason game, played a lot of players, had a lot of situations come up. Had a lot of opportunities to do different things. We’ll evaluate all those in film tomorrow,” the future Hall of Famer noted.“Just try to build on it. I thought our guys played competitively, so it was good,” he added. Belichick wouldn’t be Belichick, however, if he didn’t also point out that his team is nowhere near it needs to be to play successful football when the games start to really matter. “We have a long way to go. A lot of things we have to do better, but that’s this time of year. Just keep working.”The next chance to build on yesterday’s game will come next week. After returning to New England, the team will fly to Tennessee to hold a second round of joint practices — again with a familiar opponent: the Titans under head coach and ex-Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel await. The sessions with Vrabel’s club present the next chance for the world champions to keep working on their 2019 version.“We have a lot of work to do — coaching staff, players Youth Isaiah Wynn Jerseys , just everything,” said Belichick. “Good to get back into it. Good to get things flowing, but a lot of things came up out there that we need to just handle a little bit better, a little quicker. It’s a decent start.” When the fledgling Alliance of American Football held four exhibition games recently in San Antonio, something was missing.Kickoffs.“We were all looking around saying, ‘Does anyone miss kickoffs?’ The answer was, no, we did not miss them,” said Mike Pereira, the NFL’s former vice president of officiating who is a consultant for the latest attempt at a spring league.So, yes, when the eight-team AAF kicks off this weekend, there will be no kickoffs as a nod to player safety and one of many twists to make games faster.There will be plenty of other differences between the NFL and the AAF, which was founded by Bill Polian, a Hall of Famer and former NFL general manager, and Charlie Ebersol, a longtime TV and film producer.Among them will be a ninth member of the officiating crew, called a SkyJudge who will be in the press box and can instantly correct “obvious and egregious” officiating errors Isaiah Wynn Jerseys Stitched , like the one that marred the NFC championship game. Overtime will be different, too.The AAF opens Saturday with the San Diego Fleet visiting the San Antonio Commanders and the Atlanta Legends at the Orlando Apollos. Games continue Sunday with the Memphis Express visiting the Birmingham Iron and the Salt Lake Stallions at the Arizona Hotshots.Those games will start without kickoffs. There will still be a coin toss, with the winner deciding whether to receive or defer. The team that gets the ball will simply send out its offense to start from its 25.“The players got used to it very quickly,” Pereira said in a phone interview from his home in Sacramento. “It’s a bit of a timesaver. Our goal is to play in 2 1/2 hours.”Perhaps the most timely change is the SkyJudge, who is able to use real-time technology to correct clear errors involving player safety anytime during a game and pass interference inside of five minutes left in the fourth quarter.The SkyJudge was already in place before the non-call late in the NFC championship game that pretty much cost New Orleans a spot in the Super Bowl. NFL officiating chief Al Riveron called聽Saints聽coach Sean Payton after the game and admitted the game officials missed the helmet-to-helmet hit and pass interference penalty by Rams defensive back聽Nickell Robey-Coleman.Pereira said it was modeled in part after the college targeting rule, which allows replay to step in and call targeting even if was not called on field, or take it off if was called but wasn’t not really targeting.“If you get a helmet-to-helmet spear and it’s not called on the field, it can be picked up by the ninth official,” Pereira said. “He has the ability to do it in real time. It doesn’t go to replay. … He can call down to the field and say, ‘Hey, spearing on No. 33 of Birmingham, 15-yard penalty, let’s go.’“It’s correcting errors on the field by another member of the officiating crew without having to go to replay to do it and having a three-minute stoppage to do it.”If the SkyJudge gets a quick replay, he could view it before the ball is snapped. They just can’t delay the next snap.Also gone are onside kicks and point-after kicks. When teams score touchdowns, they must try a two-point conversion. Field goals are still OK, except in overtime. The play clock will be reduced from 40 seconds to 35 seconds. The AAF will also go back to the original NFL replay scheme of giving each team two challenges, and that’s it. That means no time-consuming video reviews for turnovers and touchdowns.While onside kicks are out, “onside conversions” are in Youth Duke Dawson Jerseys , if a team is trailing by 17 points or for either team inside of five minutes remaining in the game.So, rather than trying an onside kick, a team must convert a fourth-and-12 from its 28 in order to keep the ball.Pereira said teams like that change, too.“It was an exciting play in these preseason games. You get one play and if you reach the 40, you keep ball. If not, the ball goes over to the other team. It can be punitive. If you your throw an incomplete pass, the receiving team gets the ball at the 28-yard line. At least it gives teams an opportunity.”In overtime, each team will get the ball once, first-and-goal from the 10. Teams have to score a touchdown and go for two points. Field goals aren’t allowed. The other team then gets a series and can either match the other team or win.Games can end in ties. “We’re not afraid of ties,” Pereira said. “It creates some excitement.”Again, the goal is quicker games.“What’s nice is we’re experimenting with things the NFL has talked about,” Pereira said. “In preseason games these changes proved effective. We had points.“No disrespect to 13-3,” he said, referring to New England’s win against the聽Los Angeles Rams聽in the lowest-scoring Super Bowl ever, “but we’d much rather see 31-28.”