Yes, pretty much any article about the Patriots’ head coach could begin with “Belichick doesn’t have much to say about. . . .” Today’s topic on which he doesn’t have much to say: Fighting at practice.
On Tuesday, both receiver Julian Edelman and cornerback Stephon Gilmore were booted from practice after getting into a skirmish. It’s apparently Belichick’s rule that if you fight, you’re gone.
Here’s the portion of the transcript of Belichick’s Wednesday press conference regarding his rules on fighting, as generated and circulated by the team.
Q: When there’s a fight at practice, the rule is that those guys involved are asked to leave. Is there anything positive that you can take from that sort of instance in terms of the competitiveness or intensity the players are showing?
BB: Well, I don’t know what the rules are. I just try to coach the team the best I can.
Q: I was just referring to your rules.
BB: I don’t know what rule that is. I do what I think is right in all situations, so that’s what I do.
Q: What typically happens if there is a fight between players at training camp?
BB: I do what I think’s best.
Q: What happened after the fight yesterday?
BB: I’m not going to get into that.
Q: Will there be any consequences for those players today?
BB: Look, I’ll do whatever I do with the team. It’s between me and the team. All discipline matters are. Hopefully you can respect that.
And that’s that. And that’s Belichick.