Stephon Gilmore’s final months with the New England Patriots were odd to say the least.
The former Defensive Player of the Year was dealing with a quad injury that ended his 2020 season, but he appeared to be holding out for contract issues. Gilmore missed mandatory minicamp and eventually missed training camp also, with the reported idea of restructuring his contract.
Right before the season, the severity of the injury was announced and Gilmore was out for six weeks as he was placed on the injured reserve list. He was later traded to the Carolina Panthers, but he vocalized his frustration with how the Patriots handled his injury.
The Patriots defeated the Panthers in Week 9 and Gilmore recorded an interception — his second with the team in two games. On a conference call with reporters the following Monday, Bill Belichick had a brief response to Gilmore’s frustration.
“Surprised to hear him say that because we had several meetings and laid out a plan on how he would rehab once he came back to training camp,” Belichick said, transcribed by WEEI. “Of course, he wasn’t here all spring. We really didn’t have any idea where he was. But, when he came back we had several meetings and talked about that. You’d have to ask him.”
The truth may never be revealed, but the one glaring piece of the whole scenario is that both Gilmore and the Patriots would be much better together with the goal of a playoff run in mind.
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