Change does Patriots good

But it wasn’t evident to Belichick at the start of that day’s practice session — it was obvious after.

“I’d say the biggest change was Wednesday, coming off the field,’’ he said. “You can walk off the field and most days know whether you either had an average type of day, a bad day, or a real good day.’’

Football is unlike nearly all other major sports in that there are far more practices than games. Preparation plays a huge role in how teams perform, and on the field they refine the execution of carefully crafted game plans.

Yesterday, during his news conference held just before 5 p.m., a mere 17 hours after walking off the turf at Heinz Field with the satisfaction of a hard-fought win, Belichick effectively turned the page on the Steelers game. It was time to prepare for the Colts.

Since training camp began in late July, the Patriots have had about 80 practices. If one was to rank them, Belichick said, many would be bunched together, with just a few standing out as very good and a few remembered for being very poor.

And Wednesday sometimes can set the tone for an entire week.

“I think when you walk off the field on Wednesday, and with a good feeling about the way practice went, about the way the game plan is shaping up and the way the players are executing, that’s a good start,’’ Belichick said. “Obviously, that doesn’t mean anything, but that’s a good start because Thursday definitely relates to Wednesday.

“And if you’re behind and you don’t have a good feeling when you come off the field on Wednesday, then Thursday you have to take time to correct things that happened on Wednesday and it keeps you from moving further ahead. And if you have to continue to do that on Friday, then it detracts from other things you could be preparing for that you really need to prepare for.’’

With three good days of practice, said the coach, a team can “move ahead and go into the game confidently, knowing that you’ve prepared for everything, that you’ve executed on the practice field.’’