Welcome to Patriots training camp question countdown!

Each day leading up to the kickoff of New England’s upcoming training camp on July 25, we’ll explore one of the top 10 questions the Pats are facing. The reigning Super Bowl champions returned much of the roster that captured the franchise’s sixth title last February. But uncertainty lingers every NFL summer for every team.

So what must New England find out before September rolls around?

Let’s start here....

No. 10: Can N’Keal Harry become the Patriots’ No. 2 wide receiver?

No. 9: Is Isaiah Wynn ready to step in at left tackle?

No. 8: Can New England’s secondary stand alone as the NFL’s best?

Before the Patriots play a single snap, there’s a case to be made 2019 could be Bill Belichick’s best coaching job ever.

Not because he must replace a Hall of Fame tight end or his best front-seven defender in Trey Flowers. The greatest losses New England suffered this offseason were down the hall from Belichick’s office. And if the Patriots overcome them en route back to the Super Bowl, additional credit should be shipped to his doorstep.

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Last February, the Patriots saw five assistants leave and another, never-announced incoming defensive coordinator Greg Schiano, resign suddenly in late March. The Dolphins hired former de facto defensive coordinator Brian Flores as their new head coach, and he took New England’s assistant quarterbacks, wide receivers and cornerbacks coaches with him. Shortly thereafter, defensive line coach Brendan Daly took off for Kansas City.

By the end of the mass exodus, safeties coach Steve Belichick was the only holdover from New England’s 2018 defensive staff.

Belichick filled most of the vacancies by promoting from within and created a new position for an outside hire. Though, he hardly feels like an outsider. Despite stepping away from the game in 2016, first-year inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo knows the Patriots’ system as well as anyone whose last name isn’t Belichick.

So what does this all mean on the field?

No one, not even Belichick, can be sure in July. But there are three areas worth watching as the season progresses.

First and foremost, how well New England enacts in-game adjustments. It’s believed Belichick will call defensive plays to start the season, the first time he’s done so in almost a decade. Before, he could observe games, their flow and nuances, then jump in to install his desired adjustments.

No one is doing that now. Furthermore, players will tell you trust and experience are chiefly important to making quicker adjustments. That cuts both ways between player and coach.

Secondly, will the Patriots continue to steadily improve? It’s an underrated hallmark of what Belichick’s built; a team that annually hits high gear after Thanksgiving. Coaching drives this upward trend as much as anything. So if New England has taken a step back from a coaching standpoint, might the players’ performance suffer or stall?

Finally, behind the scenes, the diversity of game-plan ideas might lack. It’s true one of Belichick’s greatest strengths is his open-mindedness. However, first-time position coaches might (understandably) feel uncomfortable approaching the greatest coach of all time with an unusual scheme or speaking out against his proposals.

(Related: It’s no secret why running backs coach Ivan Fears and offensive line maestro Dante Scarnecchia — the only New England assistants who pre-date Belichick — are the most candid publicly. They’re tenured and valuable, and they know it.)

If so, that apprehension will put a cap on New England’s defensive creativity, which, as we’ve explored countless times, was vital to its most recent Super Bowl run.