INDIANAPOLIS -- For what is thought to be the first time in Super Bowl history, the New England Patriots simulated game conditions for Sunday by taking a 31-minute "halftime" break during Wednesday's practice.

After practicing for an hour, the Patriots went inside the locker room for 30 minutes as they will during halftime of Super Bowl XLVI before returning to the field to finish out the second half of the practice.

"We were trying to simulate the best we can," Bill Belichick said Thursday in a pool report. "It's not perfect but it's the best we could do. Practice, take a break, come back out and restart."

"Coach Belichick is a genius," said Patriots running back Stevan Ridley. "He's special. That was Coach Belichick doing his thing.

"To come up with that idea shows you what he's thinking about. He knows what's going to work and he's been around longer than any of us, and he's doing everything he can to get us prepared."

Even when the players came in at halftime of the practice, Belichick spoke to them as if it were halftime of the Super Bowl.