Bill Belichick gives Pats break to watch Nate Ebner play in Rio

— -- FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick gave players a break from training camp at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday, so the entire team could watch safety Nate Ebner as he competed for the United States rugby team in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"When Coach said we're all going to watch the Olympics, I was hyped for it," safety Brandon King said. "I feel like it will be another bonding experience for our team, because that's not something a lot of teams get to claim to be a part of."

Ebner, like King, is one of the Patriots' core special-teams players. He ranked third on the club last year with 11 special-teams tackles.

The Patriots have supported Ebner's quest to play in the Olympics, which was reflected by Belichick and other staffers wearing U.S. rugby T-shirts with Ebner's name and rugby number (12) during Tuesday's practice with the New Orleans Saints at Gillette Stadium.

Ebner is a reserve for the U.S., which faced Brazil at 5 p.m. Earlier on Tuesday, the U.S. rugby team lost to Argentina, 17-14.

Safety Devin McCourty, one of the Patriots' captains, said he wasn't surprised when Belichick informed players they'd watch the Olympics as a group.

"Bill is all about America, our country, a true patriot," he said. "I just know Bill and figured one way or the other it was going to be an option where the game was playing somewhere in the building.

"For us in the secondary, we couldn't wait. We were watching no matter what, just to cheer our guy on. He's been talking about this way before, and to see it come full circle, we'll get the opportunity to watch him out there playing and doing something he really loves. I can't wait."

Those thoughts were echoed by some of the Patriots' special-teams players who also work closely with Ebner.

"We're all pretty proud of him and excited to watch him," punter Ryan Allen said. "I think it's just cool. It gives us an opportunity to not only support Nate and his hard work, but also support our country. It's a fun time right now to see our country get represented by some of the best athletes in the world. I catch myself watching table tennis and windsurfing and I didn't even know those were events."

Long-snapper Joe Cardona noted that it will be "a good break from the routine" in training camp, as he referred to Ebner as a brother.

"It will be a good team-building exercise, I'm sure," he said. "Nate goes out there and works as hard as he can in everything he does, so it's really easy to support a guy like that. You see all the coaches with all their Ebner shirts on, you can't ask for much more. That was pretty awesome."