As Bledsoe Finally Says Goodbye to Parcells, It’s No Fond Farewell

Drew Bledsoe left the New England Patriots’ first team meeting with new Coach Pete Carroll on Wednesday with a positive outlook and a slap at old coach Bill Parcells.

The quarterback and his former coach went to the Super Bowl after working together for four seasons, yet Bledsoe said Parcells never held a farewell meeting with the players.

“You’d like to think that you go through some things with a guy, he [can] at least say goodbye. But that’s the way Bill is,” Bledsoe said. “Bill from the get-go has been . . . about Bill.”

Bledsoe no longer will face Parcells’ sideline glares and harangues after interceptions. Carroll’s style is far less intimidating.

“I wasn’t dissatisfied with Bill,” Bledsoe said. “Bill was a coach who had his style of coaching, but with Pete and the coaching staff we have now it’s a different atmosphere. It’s a different way of getting things done, and both ways can work.

“It just so happens that this way fits me a lot better.”

But can Carroll take the Patriots back to the Super Bowl?

“He knows he’s the boss and we know it,” safety Willie Clay said. “The guys definitely respect him.”