Bill Belichick 9/11: "We all just have to do a better job"

Mike Lee (0:00)

Thanks, Stacey.

Stacey (0:00)

Good morning, Bill.

Mike Lee (0:04)

I heard you talking on the radio just within the hour. Just on the fourth and 17 decision, and I'm curious how much of that is the five yards after the delay that made it fourth and 17 instead of fourth and 12, or more the overall situation of if you punt it and you might not get it back.

Bill Belichick (0:28)

Thank you So, what's the question?

Mike Lee (0:37)

So, I'm wondering, how much did the penalty lead to maybe the thought of, I might have, you know, fourth and 17 is tough, but is fourth and 12 not, you know what I mean? Obviously, it's tougher than fourth and 12 How much did the five yards impact your thought process this morning?

I might have punted it.

Bill Belichick (1:04)

Yeah, well, I mean, look, there wasn't a lot of field position to be gained, so we could have punted it up, you know, probably should have punted it on fourth and 17, but we're on their side of the 50, it's too long for a field goal. Fourth and 17 is a lot tougher than fourth and 12

Mike Lee (1:32)

Next question, Doug Heim, all by Ian Steele.

Doug Heim (1:35)

Hi Bill, good morning.

Mac Jones was very tough on himself after the loss last night, so he complained himself for it. I was wondering what you thought of his performance last night.

Bill Belichick (1:49)

Well, look, I think everybody, you know, did a lot of good things in the game, and I'm sure everybody feels the same way that Mac does, that, you know, if we had all done one or two things a little bit better, it could have made a difference. So I'm sure everybody feels the same way that Mac does. Every player and coach have participated in the game.

But, you know, that said, there were a lot of, there were positives in the game that we have to build on, but in the end, you know, any of us could have helped a little bit more, and it might have made a difference. So I'm sure, I think we all know how Mac feels. We all feel the same way.

Doug Heim (2:30)

I just have one other question, unrelated to the game. Has the team been in contact with Matt Corral since practice last week?

Bill Belichick (2:39)

Yes.

Stacey (2:50)

Morning, Bill.

I heard on the radio you said you and Tom Brady had a conversation yesterday. Was that before the game or after the game?

Bill Belichick (3:00)

Yeah, I'll just leave all the personal conversations between, you know, make it personal between myself and Tom.

Stacey (3:09)

In terms of, you know, just having him in the building, did you, since the crowd was obviously more engaged, you know, what was it like just having him around yesterday?

Bill Belichick (3:23)

You know, I wasn't out there at half time, so I don't know about all that. But I mean, yeah, it was an active crowd and, you know, it was opening day. There's a lot of energy in the stadium.

It was a tight game, so it's the National Football League. That's not what it is.

SPEAKER_5 (3:44)

Question from Nick O'Malley, followed by Chris Ryan. Bill, going back to Mack Rowe, how would you describe his current status on the Patriots roster?

Bill Belichick (3:59)

Yeah, he's in exempt status, and I don't have any comment on it. That's personal matter.

Stacey (4:11)

Chris Ryan followed by Bob Socey, and the last question will be Mike Lease.

SPEAKER_5 (4:16)

Harden Mill.

Chris Ryan (4:17)

Hi, Chris.

Stacey (4:18)

I just want to ask you a little bit about the rookie production in this game.

Chris Ryan (4:24)

Is it rare to have this type of impact from a group that we saw in the contest yesterday?

Bill Belichick (4:32)

Yeah, I don't know. I'm not going to rate it, but look, the guys that played, as I said, I think, you know, put everybody in the same group, same category, guys that play, the guys that coach, you know, it's competitive. They're good things.

In the end, we all have to do a better job. That goes for rookies, veterans, players, coaches, offense, defense, special teams. It's just across the board. There are things that we could have done, any of us could have done better that would have helped. In a close game like that, it wouldn't take too much.

So I appreciate everybody's effort and competitiveness, and we all just got to do a better job.

Chris Ryan (5:19)

When it comes to your philosophy with an offense, having eight individuals catch passes, multiple looks from back, obviously tight end, is that the type of offense that you want generally? You mentioned Corey Dillon in the past, how much he obviously dominated in terms of the amount of attempts he had as a rusher. But do you want to have as diverse an offense as possible, eight guys receiving passes, things of that nature?