Kraft bats for Belichick
Pumps up coach in wake of Super mess
ORLANDO, Fla. — Bill Belichick has won five Super Bowls with the Patriots. He is arguably the greatest football coach ever to walk a sideline.
It’s been hard to escape the notion, however, that he might have cost his team a sixth title by not playing cornerback Malcolm Butler while his secondary was being torched by Nick Foles in a 41-33 loss to the Eagles last month in Super Bowl LII.
PATRIOTS BEAT Karen Guregian
Patriots players, including Tom Brady, openly supported Butler in the days and weeks after the game, while fans have questioned Belichick and his judgment. And they still want answers.
The owner? Robert Kraft “the fan” had the same questions as everyone else.
But Kraft the boss, after talking to Belichick, is satisfied he still has the best guy running his ship. And that’s all he needs to know.
The Patriots owner basically went to bat for Belichick yesterday at the owners meetings. He did his best to pump up and rehabilitate his coach, who has taken quite a few hits since the Super Bowl.
Kraft didn’t supply an answer to the million-dollar question, but his words spoke for themselves.
“We in New England are privileged to have, I believe, the greatest coach in the history of coaching,” he said. “We’re involved in a number of businesses in our family ... and we try to encourage (our managers) to be bold, we want them to take risks. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don’t. I have faith in Bill as a coach (and) I don’t think there is anyone who has the football knowledge and expertise combined with understanding personnel. No one can merge those two worlds (like him).
“He’s done pretty well for us over the last 18 years. So, as a fan, I can question some of the moves. As someone who is privileged to be owner of this team, I encourage him to keep going with his instincts and doing what he thinks is right. There is no doubt in my mind, even if he made an error — and this is true with any of our managers — that if they’re doing it for the right reason, then I support it 100 percent. I’ve never had one instance in the 18 years where Bill hasn’t done what he believes is in the best interest of our team to help us win games.” Translation? Perhaps, in Kraft’s view, Belichick did mess up by not playing Butler. And, it sounds like he called him on it. But whatever the Hoodie told him was the reason or rationale for the controversial move made enough sense that Kraft can live with it. So they’re moving on.
During a 20-minute session yesterday, Kraft was the king of positive spin. He didn’t know if Rob Gronkowski was coming back, but he sure made it sound like it was going to happen. He didn’t know if Brady has changed his outlook on how much longer he wants to keep playing, but Kraft thought people should take what’s said by someone so soon after losing a Super Bowl with a grain of salt.
Mostly, Kraft wanted everyone to remember this is a successful team with a successful head coach.
It’s not always perfect. There are rough patches. But Kraft still believes in the man who twirls a whistle around his finger during practices. He still believes in the man who has 278 career wins, third behind Don Shula (347) and George Halas (324).
“This is not an engineering firm where everything is A, B, C, D. I think that Bill’s structure is pretty good most of the time and has worked pretty well,” Kraft said. “Think about this: If someone had told you 10 years ago that Tom Brady would be quarterbacking a team that would go to seven straight conference championship games, and when he is 40 years old, he’d be playing in a Super Bowl and be the MVP of the league, how many people would have bought into that? So I think there are adjustments.”
Think about this: When was the last time Belichick conducted a press gathering before meeting the media at the annual coaches breakfast during these meetings? He did it Sunday night. Perhaps that also comes under the heading of “adjustments” and restoration.
Hard to believe the greatest coach of all time would need a public-relations boost, but when Super Bowls are lost, it’s all in the realm.
‘He’s done pretty well for us over the last 18 years. So, as a fan, I can question some of the moves. As someone who is privileged to be owner of this team, I encourage him to keep going with his instincts.’ — PATS OWNER ROBERT KRAFT On coach Bill Belichick