Patriots captain defends team after latest controversy
The New England Patriots are off to an interesting start this spring with controversy plaguing the start of organized team activities, and the players and coaches were prepared for the questions at the first open practice of the offseason program. While Bill Belichick gave his typical answer on Wednesday morning when asked about the NFL docking […]
The New England Patriots are off to an interesting start this spring with controversy plaguing the start of organized team activities, and the players and coaches were prepared for the questions at the first open practice of the offseason program.
While Bill Belichick gave his typical answer on Wednesday morning when asked about the NFL docking two practices for violating the NFL's offseason workout program rules, moving right past the incident, Patriots captain Matthew Slater gave a more detailed response. And with that, he defended the team he has been a part of for so long.
"I believe the union is always going to act on what they believe is in the best interest of the players most of the time," Slater said. "And I believe our organization, regardless of its reputation, is always going to try to abide by the rules. Things happen that happened and I can't speak to that. I don't know what all went into these things and so on, so forth."
"But, I don't believe we're an organization that's going out of our way to break a rule or to gain an edge. I know people are going to say well this, this, this, but I don't think that was the case here."
The Patriots lost two OTAs sessions and Belichick was fined $50,000 after special teams meetings that were scheduled during Phase 2 of the offseason workout program meant players were in the stadium longer than the permitted four-hour window.
It was then reported that Joe Judge was responsible for the special-teams meetings, despite his key role last season as quarterbacks coach. This season it appears that he is going to be back as a special teams coach, which is a role he held prior to his time as New York Giants head coach.
Heading into his 16th season with the Patriots, Slater has seen his fair share of controversy with New England, but his faith in the team remains the same. With this most recent punishment behind them, Slater, Belichick, and the rest of the team are not looking back and instead focused on football.
Featured Image via Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports
