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Jovial Bill Belichick ready for the Raiders

FOXBOROUGH — Looking and sounding as if he just stepped off the treadmill — he was out of breath in the opening minutes of his press conference — a relaxed Bill Belichick was at the podium for nearly 30 minutes Wednesday morning, touching on the Patriots’ upcoming opponent, the Raiders, but also going back to his days of youth football and the single-wing formation.

Generally, reporters only see Belichick in a light mood like that on Fridays, after he has watched his team put in a few good days of preparation on the practice field and in the classroom. Seeing him that way on a Wednesday is rare.

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Of course, given that Oakland cornerback Charles Woodson said of his team, “We suck; I am embarrassed,” after a 30-14 loss to Houston last Sunday, maybe Belichick sees a relatively easy day for his Patriots in their home opener.

“It’s a lot of familiar faces, but guys that we’ve been used to seeing in different uniforms,” Belichick said of an Oakland team that added several veteran free agents in the offseason. “I think the thing that jumps out about the Raiders is how experienced they are, how many veteran players they have, and as usual they’re a big, fast team.”

After Matt Schaub was shelved with an elbow injury, the Raiders handed the starting quarterback job to rookie Derek Carr, making him the only rookie QB to start in Week 1.

Belichick gave a positive assessment of Carr.

“Carr has clearly taken control,” said Belichick. “He’s been impressive. He gets the ball out quick, makes quick decisions, athletic — the run he had against Houston last week [a 41-yard scamper in the second quarter] was impressive.

“He spreads the ball around to receivers, tight ends, backs, good running backs, two different type of guys in [Maurice] Jones-Drew and [Darren] McFadden, but both good. [Marcel] Reece is obviously a matchup guy. Big offensive line, real big.”

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As he has been in the past, Belichick was highly complimentary of Woodson, saying he doesn’t look like a player who has been in the NFL for 17 years.

“He makes plays all over the field, very aggressive, fast, instinctive, strong tackler, tough,” said Belichick. “Just couldn’t say enough about how impressed I’ve been watching him on film.”

The NFL and NFLPA have finally agreed to the parameters of a new drug policy, and the league announced Wednesday that three players — Wes Welker of the Denver Broncos, Orlando Scandrick of the Dallas Cowboys, and Stedman Bailey of the St. Louis Rams — were reinstated.

However, Belichick said he has no idea what that means for the two Patriots players currently suspended, cornerback Brandon Browner and receiver Brian Tyms — and the coach even referenced the television classic “Hogan’s Heroes.”

“You need to talk to the league about that,” he said. “We don’t know anything. It’s a very confidential policy, and it’s really handled between the league and the players, and coaches are really out of it. I’m like Sgt. Schultz — I don’t know anything.”

During the answer to a question near the end of his press conference, Belichick brought up the single-wing offense, and was asked if he wishes he could have coached back then. That led to the coach getting into the Way Back Machine.

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“You know, I mean, in a way I really feel lucky,” said Belichick, “because one year, in eighth grade, I played for the T-Birds [supported by a] Ford dealership, and that was 110-pound football, so our coach played college football at Clemson, and so we ran single wing.

“That was our offense, whatever year that would have been, call it ’62, ’63, whatever it was.

“So for a whole year, I got to experience what the single-wing offense was, and it was pretty interesting, being a lineman — which, that was the game, really, was the blocking play, the blocking patterns and calls, and that’s kind of all he knew was to run the single wing, so we ran the single wing.

“Really, looking back on it, it was a great experience that I never would have gotten otherwise because . . . hardly anybody was running it.”