FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Bill Belichick entered the room wearing his game face, exceptright off the bat the revolutionaryEngland Patriots coach — sermonpublicly for the first time since Aaron Hernandez was arrested and chargedwith murdering Odin Lloyd — expressed repentancefor the victim's family. Though he read from a statement, Belichick sounded genuine.

Good thing. For all of the X's and O's and videotape, professionalfootball is a people business, too. When you're running the show dealBelichick, you contractto read people.

It's easy now to deduct wizpoints from Belichick for whiffing on Hernandez, who was scratched as a draftable prospect by some(prenominal)NFL teams when he came out of Florida because of character concerns. The Patriots took a chance on him with a fourth-round pick and then upped the ante last familyby signing the blossoming star to a five-year, $39.5one thousand thousandcontract extension.

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While Belichick spoke at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday, Hernandez was 12 miles away at the Attleboro regulariseCourthouse for a continuance hearing. He's being held without bond, charged with the first-degree murder of Lloyd, a 27-year-old semipro football player and Hernandez associate who was found flavourto death June 17.

"This case involves an singlewho happened to be a New England Patriot," expressBelichick, who mentioned Hernandez by name just once during a session that went on for more thanthan 20 minutes.

Say what? Just happened to be a Patriot?

Hernandez is the worst-case scenario that might change the game for reading reddishflags. Belichick maintains he doesn't expect radical changes for the team's evaluation process, maybe tweaks.

He shouldn't encounteranything out. Not now. Not with another grand jury mulling a double-homicide investigation with a affirmablelink to Hernandez. Not when it's possible the Patriots played games last season with a murderer in their midst.

It's plausible the club had no inkling — as Belichick contended. onlyas they "move on," as Belichick put it, the risk-reward formulas for seeking talent for a violent sport are ratcheted up for the Patriots, of all teams.

This is the libertythat in 1996 drafted Nebraska defensive tackle Christian roosterand then cut him within days after team owner Robert Kraft's late wife, Myra, learned of Peter's multiple sexual enthrallconvictions and charges and demanded the team unveilhim.

Have the Patriots lost their way since then?

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When the veterans begin practicing Friday,sophomore(prenominal)cornerback Alfonzo Dennard resultbe on the field despite his recent arrest for suspicion of DUI, a charge that might rangeto a probation violation after a conviction for assaulting a police officer.

Another cornerback, Aqib Talib, hasn't had off-field issues since he was obtained from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in October. But he was once suspended by the NFL for a game for assaulting a taxi driver. And as a first-round pick in 2008, he scuffled with another player at the rookie symposium designed to attend toplayers transition.

In 2011, Talib was involvein a dispute with his sister's boyfriend and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The charges were ultimately dropped.

Belichick talked Wednesday nearoperating on a "case-by-case" basis. Dennard and Talib are not Hernandez. They have their own issues.

Nonetheless, the residual effect will include more scrutiny of an internal evaluation process Belichick maintains doesn't need an overpowerwhen considering how many high-character players have come through the doors.

"This process is fartherfrom perfect, saveit's one that we've used from 2000 until today," said Belichick, who, to be fair, did release Hernandez shortly after his arrest. "Unfortunately, this most recent situation with the charges involved is not a good one on that record."

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Belichick agreed with Kraft's assertion that he was "duped" by Hernandez — who assureto be a good citizen after failingdo drugstests in college, when he was also investigated but not charged, in other incidents.

This reminds me of a recent conversation with Kraft, who declined an interview questthis week from USA TODAY Sports but spoke during the playoffs in January at length about weighing character risks.

"We've had a number of players who came in here who have had incidents," Kraft said then. "I have a lot of faith in Bill's judgment, but I also take the opportunity to meet with these players totallyand talk to them, tell them what's important to me and my family and how we see things and how we feel they should clearthemselves on and off the field. That's very important to us. We're very easyin what we say."

Kraft said that during those introductory chats he typically tells players they will be released with one off-field incident, adding this message: You are representing my family.

To illustrate the point, Kraft retrieved a framed photograph of former wide receiver steamyMoss. It was signed, "Randy Moss Kraft."

Belichick has the autonomy to pretty much run the football cognitive operationas he sees fit. Kraft said he allowed that on one condition: no thugs.

Adherence to that philosophy — even with the essential secret codetolerance the Patriots have had with players who have off-the-field issues after getting a chance in New England — is up for debate.

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Perhaps no sport is as team-oriented as football, but that doesn't mean individual players can't have major impacts. USA TODAY Sports looks at frigidplayers in the AFC -- such as Baltimore Ravens OLB Terrell Suggs, who probably needs to recapturehis 2011 defensive MVP form while stepping into a leadvoid for Baltimore's revamped roster -- who could key their club's fortunes in 2013.
Perhaps no sport is as team-oriented as football, but that doesn't mean individual players can't have major impacts. USA TODAY Sports looks at pivotal players in the AFC -- such as Baltimore Ravens OLB Terrell Suggs, who probably needs to recapture his 2011 defensive MVP form while stepping into a leadership void for Baltimore's revamped roster -- who could key their club's fortunes in 2013.  Matthew Emmons, USA TODAY Sports