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The New England Patriots needed some positivity after being collectively slammed by most media members over the weekend. Head coach Bill Belichick decided to be the source of some good vibes at his presser on Monday.
In addition to downplaying the severity of the injury to RB/WR Ty Montgomery, Belichick also broke character a bit by identifying the strongest position group on his roster.
Legendary sports broadcaster and journalist Chris Berman was on hand as one of the media members speaking with Belichick.
He asked Belichick the somewhat leading question that generated the surprisingly specific answer. NESN’s Chelsea Sherrod captured the exchange between Berman and Belichick:
Belichick’s acknowledgment of Berman’s presence was priceless as the former clearly holds the latter in high regard.
While Belichick acknowledged Berman with smiles, he didn’t initially mention second-year safety Joshua Bledsoe. Many believed Bledsoe had an opportunity to make the team, and he still might.
Too much could be read into this omission, though it was noteworthy.
A Closer Look at the Patriots’ Safeties
In case you’re wondering, the players who comprise the “safety group” are Devin McCourty, Adrian Phillips, Kyle Dugger, Jabril Peppers, Cody Davis, Bledsoe, Brendan Schooler, and Brad Hawkins.
The Patriots don’t simply have depth at both safety spots, they have enviable talent. In McCourty, Phillips, and Dugger, New England has three players expected to perform at or near a Pro-Bowl level in 2022. Peppers has excellent athleticism and solid instincts. He is also playing on a bit of a prove-it deal, so there is a reason for optimism for his performance this season.
Davis is a standout special teams performer, and the rookie Schooler is also. Schooler may have the best chance at extending the Patriots’ streak of maintaining the services of an undrafted free agent into the season.
McCourty was informed about Belichick’s compliments to his unit and expressed his appreciation. In comparing the Patriots’ safeties to other top units in the NFL, McCourty said, “I like our group.”
The 13-year veteran called out the underdog mentality that he, Dugger, and Phillips carry and that he believes helps to keep the trio striving and never complacent. Here is a look at McCourty’s response.
McCourty did mention Bledsoe in his comments.
In Other Patriots News
- Belichick Doesn’t Think Much of Preseason Results
Don’t expect Belichick to be one of the people having an overly strong reaction to the Patriots’ 26-3 loss in the preseason finale against the Las Vegas Raiders. During the aforementioned presser, Belichick told the media he doesn’t put a lot of stock in preseason results.
He also said NFL teams don’t really know who they are until November.
“Preseason is preseason,” Belichick said. “Preseason is about developing your team for the season and evaluating the players. If you look at the playtime in our games, and any other games, I don’t think Las Vegas played 30 players, I don’t think Carolina, it must have been 30 players that didn’t play in their game [against us]. That’s not really what preseason is about. Preseason is about evaluating the players that you do play and taking the practice time — in joint practices or whatever time you have — to prepare your team for the regular season. Where everybody is on that, we’ll see after five-six weeks of the regular season. That’s when we’ll know.”
The response was a masterful way to take some heat off his team after they took a beating from critics following the loss. Belichick still has enough juice with the football universe to throw the bloodhounds off the scent–at least temporarily.
However, if the Patriots come out in Week 1 on September 11 against the rival Miami Dolphins and lay a similar egg, there won’t be anyone buying the next Belichick spiel. On the flip side, a win in Week 1–especially one that sees the much-maligned offense perform well–would validate Belichick’s message, and it’ll have fans and others calling him a genius again.
This is the way of the sports world in 2022.
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