New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick clearly wasn’t in the mood for questions relating to the controversial low hit Mac Jones put on Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Eli Apple in Week 16.
Belichick is a master at sidestepping questions he personally deems unworthy of a response, and that’s usually anything that doesn’t have to do with the game currently on the team’s schedule.
So it was no surprise that the legendary coach wanted to put everything that happened against the Bengals in the rearview when heading into the biggest game of the season on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.
The Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan asked multiple questions relating to Jones being called and perceived as a “dirty player.” However, the invisible wall between Belichick and the media was impenetrable.
Callahan asked Belichick if he thought he’s risking “alienating” Jones by refusing to lean one way or the other in his perception of the controversy.
“Yeah, I have a good relationship with all the players. I talk to all the players. I talk to the team every day. I talk to players individually on an as-needed basis or anything that’s relevant,” said Belichick. “So, I feel comfortable with my relationship with every player, every coach, every staff member — if that’s what you’re asking. I feel very comfortable with every one of them.
“So, that’s what I base it on, not what somebody else thinks or what somebody else says. I base my relationships on my direct relationship with that person. That’s what I feel like’s important.”
Bill Belichick had an interesting exchange with @_AndrewCallahan about the narrative of Mac Jones being a "dirty" player. pic.twitter.com/dOA5ewhjfZ
— Dakota Randall (@DakRandallNESN) December 30, 2022
Belichick’s response is pretty typical considering he rarely yields any insight into his personal feelings about anything. And at 70 years old, it’s hard to envision him ever changing regardless of how anyone feels about it.
