Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots made an interesting decision prior to their loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, scratching offensive tackle Trent Brown from the lineup even though he wasn't on the injury report.
Brown has dealt with injuries recently, being listed on the injury report with ankle, knee and hand ailments over the last couple of months. As he has been banged up, Brown has been rotated in and out of the lineup in the games he has played, presumably due to injury.
But when asked about the situation following Sunday's game, the Patriots head coach gave an on-brand answer.
“We played the players we wanted to play,” Belichick said.
When he was later asked why Brown wasn't one of the players he wanted to activate for Sunday's game, Belichick interrupted.
“Because we activated other players,” Belichick replied.
Bill Belichick’s answer to why Trent Brown was a healthy scratch today:
“We activated the players we wanted to play.”
-OR-
“We activated the players who wanted to play.” pic.twitter.com/1IH16r8NAm
— Mike Kadlick (@mikekadlick) December 31, 2023
What's going on with Trent Brown and the Patriots?
Brown has been graded as one of the best offensive tackles in football this season when he has played, so the Patriots opting not to play him when given the chance is certainly peculiar, especially as they've had issues along the offensive line throughout the year.
But Brown appears to have given the Patriots reasons to bench him throughout the year. He seemed to bash the team over their handling of Malik Cunningham before his signing with the Baltimore Ravens. There had also been rumors over his poor work ethic throughout the year.
Brown is currently in the final season of a two-year contract he signed with the team during the 2022 offseason. He received a $2 million pay bump in incentives back in September, which was tied to his playing time. Brown missed a shot at earning those incentives after missing Sunday's game because he won't be eligible for the 65 percent playing time bonus he could've received.
Still, Brown has some support from teammates.
“I appreciate Trent,” Patriots center David Andrews told reporters. “Played a lot of football with him.”
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