Bill Belichick was in usual form ahead of the New England Patriots first organized team activity made available to the media this spring.
The Patriots coach addressed the media for the first time since the team lost two organized team activities due to a violation committed by assistant coach Joe Judge during Phase 2 of the offseason program.
Belichick wasn't in much of a mood to discuss the punishment.
“We had a situation with some scheduling in Phase 2, but we got that worked out,” Belichick said when asked of the specific rule the team broke.
Belichick was pressed on the matter multiple times at the beginning of his press conference on Wednesday. He answered each question similarly.
“It’s in the past, we’ve moved on,” Belichick continuously said. He later added that he's “looking forward to getting out on the field today” and took responsibility for the violation.
The two organized team activities the Patriots lost were scheduled for last Thursday and Tuesday, giving the Patriots added days off around the holiday weekend.
“[We] got a long weekend,” Belichick said with a smile.
But the violation brought into question Judge's role with the team. The NFLPA's allegation of the Patriots' violation cited that Judge held a special teams meeting that went over the four hours allotted for the day during the Phase 2 session. The documents also reportedly called Judge a special teams coach, a new role for him after he coached the quarterbacks last season.
Belichick was coy about what Judge's role with the team is.
“He’ll do whatever I ask him to do,” Belichick said. “That might change from time to time. He’ll be involved in a lot of things.”
Bill Belichick on the role of Joe Judge: "He'll do whatever I ask him to do" pic.twitter.com/hI1fr96Scv
— NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Coverage (@NBCSPatriots) May 31, 2023
He also complemented the coach.
“Joe’s great. Smart guy, got a lot of experience,” Belichick said. “He’ll do whatever we need him to do, and he can do a lot.”
In terms of other matters surrounding the team and the league, Belichick didn't take too hard of a stance on the NFL's controversial new kickoff rule, which allows players to call for a fair catch on a kickoff and bring the ball to the 25-yard line.
“We’ll see about all that,” Belichick said when asked about the rule change. “I know Coach [John] Harbaugh is pretty involved in that, [and] Coach [Andy] Reid. I think they’ve voiced some comments on that. I probably agree with things they said.”
Bill Belichick also didn't want to comment on the team's possible pursuit of star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who officially became a free agent on Tuesday.
“I'm not going to comment on players that aren't on this team,” Belichick said.
Follow Us
Subscribe