Bill Belichick is here to remind us just how little the preseason's third game matters

Patriots coach doesn't think Week 3 of the preseason is a dress rehearsal for the regular season

As the preseason creeps along to Sept. 8, when the Panthers and Broncos are scheduled to kick off the real season, Bill Belichick is here to remind you that you still have two more weeks of watching some pretty meaningless football.

Entering the third week of the preseason, when most starters often play two or three quarters, the Patriots coach isn't placing any extra importance on his team's dress rehearsal for the regular season. In fact, according Belichick, we should probably stop calling the third game of the preseason the "dress rehearsal," because it's not even "in the same universe" as the regular season.

"I don't. I don't know what that means," Belichick told WEEI Radio. "In terms of playing time it might be a little different, but in terms of game-planning and strategy, what we see in the regular season compared to what we see the in third preseason game I don't even think you're in the same universe. We're still running our basic plays and we'd expect our opponents would run their basic plays. You get to the opener and start to get to game-planning and scheme, I mean you're in a totally different ballpark, in my opinion. I don't see any comparison at all. It's too far away, I don't see how you could compare them, from that standpoint."

Still, that doesn't mean the preseason is meaningless. It might not hold any weight for how well a team performs once the games begin to take on importance -- after all, the 2008 Lions went 4-0 in the preseason and 0-16 in the regular season -- but it does matter for individual players, most of whom are trying to solidify their spot on the depth chart and, in some instances, the final roster.

It matters for Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who will fill in for suspended starter Tom Brady for the first four games of the season. For Garoppolo, the preseason translates into live reps with the starters. It gives him a chance to build a rapport with a newcomer like tight end Martellus Bennett.

But, again, Belichick might caution against grading Garoppolo's preseason results, because Garoppolo is playing quarterback without a real game plan and against defenses with pretty simplistic schemes.

"One-on-one matchups, letting the players play, yeah, I would say you have a better matchup of guys like that," Belichick said, "but it's nothing compared to what we're going to see in the regular season from a total scheme situation standpoint."

So remember: When you tune in for the preseason's third week of games, which begins Thursday and runs through Sunday, don't worry about the final score or even the score when the starters leave the field. Like all preseason games, just worry about which starters aren't able to leave the field without the assistance of the medical staff.