The Patriots took a break from their study of practice film last night and saw a real movie, The Fighter. The evening was particularly special for the players because joining them for the movie and a discussion afterward was Micky Ward (shown above with Deion Branch). Here is the reaction of some of the players from an article in today’s Providence Journal:

“It was a great movie. I’m glad I had the opportunity to watch it with the guys,” Deion Branch said. “Coach knows exactly what he’s doing. … I think he knows when to push the little buttons and when he needs to keep his foot down.”

Newcomer Andre Carter said this:

“You know, I’ve had five or six coaches,” the veteran said. “I’ve never experienced that before. … It was great to meet the actual man behind the story. It was a great story, great for him to come in and talk about the movie, talk about the struggles he’s been through in his life.”

It made Carter admire Belichick that much more.

“I’ve seen a lot of the reasons why he’s successful,” he said. “He’s definitely an X’s and O’s guy, from special teams to position meetings to just so many details. I’ve never seen a coach so hands-on. He takes great pride in his job, great pride in his craft.”

And here’s Logan Mankins who I suspect is one of the toughest players on the team if not in the entire NFL:

“It was a good movie, a really good movie to watch. It was nice to hear from Micky about his side of the whole thing,” he said. “It’s about how you have to keep fighting, keep going when you’re down and don’t think you can keep going.”