Butler benching remains mystery
Cornerback who led Patriots defenders in snaps during season sat for big game
When NBC’s Super Bowl 52 telecast panned across the Patriots during the national anthem, Malcolm Butler was shown to be teary-eyed. As it turned out, the cornerback had just found out that he was benched for Sunday’s championship game, one New England would go on to lose to the Eagles in high-scoring fashion, 41-33.
Afterward, a disconsolate Butler told ESPN’s Mike Reiss, “They gave up on me. F---. It is what it is.”
“I don’t know what it was,” Butler added. “I guess I wasn’t playing good or they didn’t feel comfortable. I don’t know. But I could have changed that game.”
During the regular season, Butler led all Patriots defensive players with a 97.83 snap percentage (per ProFootball Reference), and he played every snap of New England’s first two post-season games. However, just before the Super Bowl kicked off, Butler was told he would be replaced by fellow cornerback Eric Rowe.
“No, that wasn’t the plan,” Rowe said (via NFL.com). “It wasn’t official until kickoff . . . I feel for (Butler).”
After the game, Patriots coach Bill Belichick was asked about his decision to bench Butler, who only took the field on a few special-teams plays. “We put the best players and game plan out there that we felt was best for tonight, like we always do,” Belichick said in typically terse manner.
“It was a coach’s decision,” said Butler, whose goal-line interception sealed the Patriots’ Super Bowl win over the Seahawks in 2015. “I was just doing my job and supporting my teammates. I have nothing but great things to say about the organization. They gave me an opportunity. That’s about it.”
Rowe struggled in coverage Sunday, as did the Patriots’ secondary in general. Nick Foles threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns en route to Super Bowl MVP honours. New England often had safeties covering the slot position, from which Philadelphia’s Nelson Agholor racked up nine catches for 84 yards.
One ex-Patriot laid the blame for the loss squarely on Belichick.
“Lost the game for us tonight,” former cornerback Brandon Browner captioned an Instagram photo of Belichick. “Stupid decision and makes no sense. You make the decision to give us the best chance to win. But u don’t play your best cornerback. F--- the politics.”
Browner also sent a message to Butler, whose future in New England is uncertain. “Your spirit was all over that game tonight. Definitely seen it, they had safeties covering WR to prove a point. God bless u my friend, keep fighting, I saw you tear up pre game, first sign. You done a lot for that team and that community it’s ok to move on.”
Patriots defensive co-ordinator Matt Patricia, who is expected to become the Lions’ head coach, told reporters that his team was simply “trying to run some packages,” which apparently didn’t happen to include Butler. “It kind of turned out that way, and the game with the way it went and some of the situations that came up, that was just kind of the way it went,” he said.
The bigger Rowe had reportedly been practising during the week as a starting cornerback opposite Stephon Gilmore, but Rowe said after the game that he still expected Butler to get his share of playing time. Gilmore said (via the Boston Herald) of Butler, “I want everybody to play, he’s a scrappy player so he could have helped us, maybe? I don’t know. That’s how the game goes sometimes.”
Butler heads into the off-season as a restricted free agent and thus may have played his last game as a Patriot. Asked by Reiss what would come next for him, Butler replied, “I ain’t Miss Cleo, so I can’t tell the future.”