Tag: N’Keal Harry

While discussing recent draft woes for Patriots, Bill Belichick’s ‘seen a lot worse’

“I’m not going to apologize for our record over the last 20 years.”

One of the hottest topics for the New England Patriots currently is the lack of talent on the roster.

Whether it came from a refusal of signing players who require more money or simply just drafting poorly, the questions have been sent Bill Belichick’s way. ESPN’s Bart Scott went far enough to say that Belichick should be fired as the team’s general manager.

While speaking with reporters on Friday, Belichick was asked why the high draft picks haven’t turned into solidified starters. N’Keal Harry was likely the key player that reporters were eluding to.

“I’d say the most important thing to me is winning games,” Belichick said, transcribed by NESN. “I’m not going to apologize for our record over the last 20 years. I’ve seen a lot worse. So ultimately, we try to put the best team on the field that we can to be competitive, and I don’t really see that changing.

“So whoever those players are or aren’t, that’s the responsibility I feel to the team. The competition plays itself out, and the better players play, whoever they are.”

The draft questions continued, including the consistency and production from the guys who have been drafted.

“Well, I’d say — look, any time you bring a player onto your team, you put him into a role or a situation that you think fits him,” Belichick said. “Sometimes you have to modify that a little bit as you get to know the player, and then you work with him to try to develop that. He competes with other players at whatever position it is or whatever role it is, and ultimately, you choose — or we choose, I choose — the best player out of that competition.

“So that’s really the process. I don’t know how else to answer the question. Obviously, each player’s different. Each player competes with different players. Positions are different. So I don’t know there’s a general answer to that.”

It took him quite some time to even work up the response.

Belichick recently said the Patriots ‘sold out’ in order to collect the past three Super Bowl wins. He continued on this approach and will hold tight to it as the questions come in — just like he’s held on tight to the six Super Bowl wins he’s collected over the past two decades.

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