Belichick On Revis' Departure For Jets: 'That's NFL Free Agency'
BOSTON (CBS) -- Patriots head coach Bill Belichick met with the media on Tuesday morning, but he wasn't really in a mood to chat.
Back in Arizona, the site of New England's most recent Super Bowl victory just a few short months ago, for the NFL's owners meetings, Belichick was asked many questions on numerous topics. But not even the nice weather -- Belichick noted it was about 40 degrees warmer than his last trip out west -- could warm the Patriots head coach up to the plethora of questions he was hit with on Tuesday.
Even though he seemed to be enjoying his orange juice at his breakfast table, Belichick wasn't very sunny when asked about the departure of corner Darrelle Revis.
"It's NFL free agency. Players leave teams and go to teams in free agency every year, that's not a big story," Belichick deadpanned.
Though there were a few other Revis questions, Bill's answer always went back to the fact that a player leaving Team A for another team is simply, "NFL free agency." When asked about other departed Patriots, corner Brandon Browner and running back Shane Vereen, reporters were told to ask their new teams -- the New Orleans Saints and New York Giants, respectively. Not even Vince Wilfork, who spent 11 seasons with the Patriots, could get a little extra love from Belichick on Tuesday, with the coach pointing to his "lengthy statement" from a few weeks ago to cover those bases.
With Revis and Browner no longer around, Belichick said he's not sure how that will change New England's defensive schemes. He did mention the competition in the defensive backfield, but was quick to see there are competitions everywhere when training camp hits.
He offered just as little about the newcomers to New England. When it comes to defensive end Jabaal Sheard, tight end Scott Chandler and running back Travaris Cadet, we'll just have to wait and see what they bring in camp (he did note the Patriots had issues covering Chandler when he was a member of the Buffalo Bills).
And it should come as no surprise that Belichick wanted no part in any "Deflategate" talk.
"I think that was talked about ad nauseam two weeks before the Super Bowl. Right now, I'm concentrating on building our team for the 2015 season," he said.
Belichick did take part in the annual NFL coaches photograph, something he skipped last year.
Belichick was disappointed that his rule proposal to add cameras to all boundary lines on the field appears to be heading for another year on the drawing board and not in the rule book. The league cited not having funds to afford such cameras in all stadiums as a reason it will likely not pass, an excuse Belichick doesn't buy.
"I was disappointed to hear we couldn't afford it as a league," he said. "They brought that up as a concern, and it was kind of surprising to hear that."
We didn't learn much from Tuesday morning's "Breakfast With Bill," except that even just a few weeks after winning his fourth Lombardi trophy, he's the same old Belichick.
