FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:

1. It might be a coincidence, but ever since former Wisconsin and current Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema visited Patriots headquarters around five years ago, the club has struck it big by selecting two of his players in the fourth round -- running back James White (2014) and defensive end Trey Flowers (2015). This year, the Patriots added Arkansas defensive end Deatrich Wise (fourth round, No. 113) to the mix.

When this was mentioned to Bielema, he joked, “I’d much rather they have three first-rounders.” Then he shared his insight on why it’s worked out for New England, as well as some of his personal admiration.

“The one thing I’ve learned in my last 12 years being a head coach at this level is that, to me, the people who really have success are the ones that understand what a player may be in college and what he can project to be at their level with the right development, with the right system, with the right plan,” he said.

“That’s why I think Coach [Bill] Belichick and the Patriots do so well, they [target] guys to play specific roles and let them develop into it. … I think they recognize the value of what these guys are going to be.”

With White and Flowers, it took both of them one full season before they were in position to make an impact with the Patriots. That highlights the development Bielema speaks of, and he wouldn’t be surprised if Wise writes a similar story this year.

“He’s a guy that had a huge junior year and senior year he was a little banged up. His potential is off the charts when he’s healthy,” he said.

As for Bielema’s visit to Patriots headquarters about five years ago, he referred to it as “something very exciting.” His first connection to Belichick came as an assistant coach at Iowa (1996-2001) under Kirk Ferentz, who had been an assistant on Belichick’s staff with the Cleveland Browns. Bielema’s agent, Neil Cornrich, is another Belichick confidant.

“One of the things I was able to do several years back is go visit there and be into that system, on the inside, and see what they do and what they believe in,” Bielema said, adding that he shares a similar belief in key Patriots tenets.

“I do think the way we do things here, doing things right, being coachable, the development phase of things, are very, very common. I have nothing at the level of what those guys accomplish, but it’s fun to see our guys go up there and have success.”

2. Bielema on similarities between defensive ends Flowers (6-foot-2, 265 pounds) and Wise (6-5, 270): “They both went to Arkansas and wore a ‘Hog on their head, but that’s about where it stops. They’re both tremendous players. I’ve seen them both look as special as you can be, but I think Trey is a little more of an every-down thing. He’s wired a little different, can do multiple things. Deatrich, as a pure pass-rusher, is as good as I’ve been around. I’m not saying he’s going to be J.J. Watt, but J.J. was an extremely good pass-rusher, especially in the third and fourth quarter because he knew how to use his length. Deatrich is the same. That’s why we had some success when we put him inside, against shorter personnel. ...

“I think the part they do share is that they’re very, very intelligent. We do a thing here at Arkansas that we teach Football IQ and call it ‘Hogonese.’ They are classes year-round where we get our guys better at the language and culture we want in our program. Both of those guys would have been straight-A students in those classes. They understood what we’re asking people to do and why we’re asking them to do it.”

3. Bill Belichick and ESPN’s Chris Berman have had a decades-long friendship, a reminder of which was served on Berman’s annual visit to Foxborough for a rare sit-down one-on-one interview that Belichick seldom agrees to with others. Belichick and Berman share, among other things, a passion for football. On Wednesday, Belichick was among the hundreds in Hartford, Connecticut, to pay respects at services for Berman’s wife, Katherine, who died May 9 in a two-car automobile crash.

4. This week marks a turning of the page in the Patriots’ voluntary offseason program, as coaches and players enter the third and final phase, which increases the amount of time players are allowed to be at the facility (from 4 hours to 6 hours) and includes no-pads organized team activities (seven-on-seven, 11-on-11 drills etc.). The first OTA session open to beat reporters is Thursday, which will be reporters’ first look at the club on the field.

Patriots’ OTA schedule:

May 22

May 23

May 25 (open to media)

May 31

June 1

June 6 (mandatory camp/open to media)

June 7 (mandatory camp/open to media)

June 8 (mandatory camp/open to media)

June 12 (open to media)

June 13

June 15

5. After voting concluded for the Patriots Hall of Fame this past Monday, the expectation is that the club will announce the fans' choice for 2017 inductee early this week, with cornerback Raymond Clayborn (1977-89), defensive lineman Richard Seymour (2001-08) and linebacker Mike Vrabel (2001-08) the three finalists. All are deserving of induction and this year’s voting has a little more intrigue because there isn’t one obvious slam-dunk winner as there has been in past years, such as Drew Bledsoe (2011), Troy Brown (2012), Tedy Bruschi (2013) and Ty Law (2014). Clayborn’s hopes are tied to the possibility that Seymour and Vrabel split the modern-day vote, possibly opening the door for him in his fourth straight year as a finalist.

6. Cornerback Jason McCourty’s signing with the Browns surprised me, mainly because I figured he would have positioned himself to hopefully experience playoff football for the first time in his eight-year career. That probably would have required some patience and waiting for an injury to change a team’s outlook, which is no guarantee. As McCourty said on NFL Network, there was mutual interest between him and the Patriots, but the club is stocked at corner with Malcolm Butler’s return.

7. Did you Know: Receiver Brandin Cooks, who doesn’t turn 24 until Sept. 25, is currently the same age or younger than 15 rookies currently on the Patriots’ 90-man roster.

8. One leftover from Friday’s story on Patriots rookie offensive tackle Conor McDermott (sixth round, UCLA) and the bond he shares with his older brother, third-year Vikings long-snapper Kevin McDermott: They could have been teammates in New England had things worked out differently. At the start of the 2014 season, the Patriots strongly considered signing McDermott after having some concerns with the incumbent at the time, Danny Aiken. “Right after I got cut in San Francisco, I got on a red-eye flight and had a workout the next day,” McDermott recalled last week. But the Patriots stuck with Aiken and then drafted Joe Cardona the following offseason.

9. A telling stat on why the Eagles view running back LeGarrette Blount as a perfect fit for them: Philadelphia running backs combined to score 13 touchdowns on 44 rushing attempts inside the 10-yard line last season, while Blount alone had 15 rushing touchdowns inside the 10 last year. In an interview with the Eagles’ website, Blount said of the Patriots, “The two teams that won the Super Bowl were two of the closest teams. It was so close, so team-oriented. Everyone cheered each other on. The groups were really tight. Everyone hung out. Ultimately, I think that played a big role.”

10. A significant part of what makes a successful team is unheralded staffers whose work often goes unnoticed in the public eye, and Michelle Martini (Boston College class of ’11) was one of those people for the Patriots in her role as Associate Director of Football Operations. For example, when the Patriots touched down at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston for Super Bowl LI in late January, it was Martini who was already on the tarmac to ensure that there was a smooth transition for the entire traveling party upon arrival. That’s a massive responsibility that can often fall into the category of “nobody notices until there is a screw-up” and Martini was widely regarded by many in the organization for her expertise. She is moving on from the job for new career challenges, a “free-agent” departure that fans might not necessarily see but is definitely felt behind the scenes.