Bill Belichick knows better than anyone how to turn skepticism into motivation. Every year, it seems the New England Patriots are favored to win the Super Bowl. And every year, Belichick seems to convince them that no one thinks the Patriots can win the Super Bowl.
It’s a tremendous mind trick.
But this year, Belichick doesn’t have to pull any tricks. This year, the skepticism is real. New England is without quarterback Tom Brady for the first time in 20 years, and no one knows whether the Patriots will stay Super Bowl relevant in 2020.
Former Patriots tackle Matt Light is convinced Belichick will use Brady’s departure to motivate the team.
“Most guys in the NFL want to tell you we don’t need motivation,” Light said on “Good Morning Football” on Friday. “We’re here. We work hard. We’re doing everything we have to do. We don’t need the outside influences. But I’m going to tell you, it weighs in, and it weighs on each one of those players because the coaching staff is going to be a little bit tighter. There’s a lot of question marks. A lot of things they got to figure out. Bill Belichick, his system — do your job, work hard, be attentive, put the team first — all those things he instills in those players week in and week out, well this is the real test. So all of those guys are going to feel the weight of it.
“Are they going to have motivation to go out there and prove they can win without Tom Brady? Yeah, they’ll use this.”
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