FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Of the many things learned about Bill Belichick during his 13-year tenure as New England Patriots coach, at the top of the list is his strong belief in team-building.

A well-documented story from past years is when he'd have an offensive or defensive lineman attempt to catch a punt in training camp, and if the lineman was successful, the entire squad would earn a night off after a string of hard workdays. This brought together players from all ends of the roster, the smaller, quicker returners working with the big, burly behemoths on the line -- and everyone in between gathering around to provide support.

There were no jersey numbers for Bill Belichick's players at minicamp, and communication has never been better. Jonathan Wiggs/Getty Images

It's one of the great challenges for an NFL coach, to get 53 to 90 players -- some at the end of their career, some at the beginning, many with little in common, some with large egos, others not so much -- all pulling in the same direction.

With the Patriots concluding a four-week stretch of organized team activities and mandatory minicamp Thursday, it's a good time to highlight the new page Belichick pulled out of his team-building playbook.

No jersey numbers.

Perhaps you noticed in some of the pictures snapped at Gillette Stadium in recent weeks, offensive players wore plain blue shirts with a Patriots logo in the middle, while defenders were in gray. The only numbers to be found were the small ones on the backs of helmets or possibly on a pair of shorts.

There was a humorous moment Wednesday when Belichick was asked why the players have been numberless, a questioner wondering whether perhaps it had something to do with Nike's new contract with the NFL and practice jerseys possibly not being ready.

"You'd have to talk to somebody in the marketing department about that," Belichick said. "That's not really my thing."

No, the coach who made the no-frills, cut-sleeve hoodie famous isn't into practice jerseys or how players look on the field. But anything to help build a more cohesive, unified team is right in his wheelhouse, and that's where the idea to go without numbers was hatched.

"They want us to learn each other's names and communicate better," one player said.

Added another player: "With 90 guys on the roster, that's a lot. The idea is to get away from saying, 'Hey, number 95' or 'number 99,' and call each person by their name."