Belichick

FOXBORO — Early this afternoon, the young players who took part in the New England Patriots’ rookie mini-camp will head for their respective homes, their heads full of plays, workout plans, and details.

Most will be back in less than two weeks to take part in the team’s off-season program, passing camps and full-team mini-camp before training camp gets under way in late July.

During their brief first stay in Foxboro, the players started learning the basics of New England’s system during four on-field practices and classroom work.

Coach Bill Belichick was pleased with what he saw.

“We are really starting to see some quick improvement; that’s a good sign. That’s what we are looking for,” Belichick said. “It is part of the evaluation, too, to see how quickly players improve when they are instructed to do something and then are corrected on it. A lot of the time, it doesn’t look good the first time, like when all of us do things for the first time. But you work on it, improve, practice it and get coached on it.”

Before they leave today, each player will meet with a member of the coaching staff and will be given a list of things he needs to work on while he is home.

It will run the gamut from weight-room exercises and drills the way the team prefers them to be done to position-specific techniques, “so when they come back and join the program, they will be able to keep up or do a better job versus doing something else,” Belichick said.

“I’m not saying that ‘something else’ is bad, but it’s just not what we do. Then they are just kind of behind about what our program is. At every position, I’m sure the players are seeing things that we do that are different than what they did last year.”

With nine tryout players in the camp, Belichick said he and the staff will make a decision by tomorrow as to which ones (if any) should join the 11 other undrafted free agents who have already received contracts from the Patriots.

The team did not release the names of the players who were in for a tryout.

Find from North Dakota

Though there was no announcement, it is known that one of the tryout players is former North Dakota State punter Mike Dragosavich.

Tall (6-foot-5) and thin (190 pounds), Dragosavich gained notice by averaging 45.4 yards per punt last fall for the Bison.

Eleven of his 27 punts were downed inside the 20-yard line and eight went 50 or more yards.

His season long was 70 yards, though he boomed a 79-yarder his sophomore year at Southern Illinois.

His work with the I-AA squad earned him an invitation to the Senior Bowl.

Though he kicked inside during the weekend due to the weather, Belichick said he and special-teams coach Brad Seely were still able to get a feel for what Dragosavich is capable of.

“Even though you don’t get the full punt up there, you can still see where they are hitting the ball. Even if you don’t see the ball, just watching the guy kick and watching the way the punter drops the ball and when it contacts his foot, you can get a pretty good idea,” Belichick said. “I think Mike is pretty athletic. His is a tall guy, so he is long and can generate some pretty good leg speed.

Dragosavich has a funny side as well.

He used to entertain the halftime crowd at Bison’s basketball games with a dance routine he did dressed as a janitor (search “Dragosavich” on YouTube).

He said the bit was him trying “to put some smiles on people’s faces. I try to live life by having a good time.”

New England currently has Chris Hanson and Scott Player signed at punter.

Coaching stalwart hits field

Belichick was asked about having veteran coach Dom Capers on the field for the first time, and said it was good to have him out there. “Dom is a good fundamental coach and this is a fundamental weekend,” Belichick said of the new secondary coach/special assistant, brought aboard in February. … Rookie mini-camps weren’t so “mini” years ago; Belichick remembered his first year in coaching, with the Colts, the rookie camp started with more than 100 players and lasted two weeks.

smanza@projo.com