BY SAM HOLLINGSWORTH
There's something different about Patriots coach Bill Belichick this season.
No, not just the fact that he led the Patriots to their first playoff win in four years this season. He's also apparently been a little bit more pleasurable to be around, believe it or not.
"We work hard all year to be in the situation that we're in to play in this game," veteran defensive lineman Vince Wilfork, the only returning starter on the defense from when the Patriots played in Super Bowl XLVI, told the media Tuesday. "All year (coach has) been like that. It's been kind of a relaxing year for all of us — just not knowing how much pressure he could put on us physically.
"Everything he's asked us to do, we've responded. It's been a fun season just seeing guys come to work each day. I think he appreciates that, and I appreciate that as a teammate."
Some media personnel even suspected Belichick & Co. were pulling a joke on those around them engulfed in the Super Bowl XLVI hype. But make no mistake, it's no joke.
And it seems to be working.
"It's serious," former Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch said. "There's no jokes going on with us. We just had a great practice (today). We're about to get out of here pretty soon to go watch this film, but there's no joking going on. Everything is serious."
So what changed that has Belichick seemingly so much more lax? Is he growing content? More confident? Is he just going soft? Maybe he's just happier.
"I would say that one of the good things about this team is their consistency," Belichick said. "They come to work every day, they are ready to work. This team overall, they come to work, they are ready to work and they go to work.
"I respect their consistency. I respect their mental toughness, their physical toughness and their ability to put things behind them and move ahead to the next challenge — daily, weekly, after a bad play and moving on to the next play, whether that is in practice or in games."
Belichick seems to know what he has in his 2011/2012 posteason team. And he should have a pretty good sense of whether or not a particular team is capable of winning it all or not, as he's been to 50 percent of the Super Bowls over the past decade.
"Trust me, at times Bill can be difficult to deal with. But I think he sees a difference in this team," Wilfork said. "I think he knows that he has a pretty tough football team, a smart football team and a team that's never going to let him down.
"We have one more game to go. Hopefully we won't let him down."
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