'I think we have a tremendous amount of respect for the Patriots,'' Saban said. 'Every year is a new year. Everybody has a significant amount of change on their roster relative to the system we live in. There's always some question as to how that's all going to fit together and how you're going to develop that team chemistry, how some of your young players develop and take some of those guys' place [who left], how the new guys fit into your roster. ``But one thing New England has always done is kept some key components that are critical to their success. It starts with the quarterback. They've had changes in past years and been able to just keep on keeping on in terms of their ability to remain consistently successful probably as well or better than anybody in the National Football League.''
Instead of worrying about the Patriots, Saban is more concerned with his team.
''Our focus needs to be on getting our team to be as good as it can be,'' he said. ``We're going to have to be ready to play great football against the teams in our division if we're going to have a chance to challenge for our division. Certainly, that's something we want to do and what we're working toward and looking forward to.
``But I can't say how the changes they made are going to affect their team. And until we start playing, we won't be certain how the changes we think will improve our team will actually come to fruition.''
