Bill Belichick Clears Air Over Josh Allen Comments To MNF Crew: 'I Have A Lot Of Respect For Allen'

BOSTON (CBS) -- Monday Night Football commentator Brian Griese dropped a pretty big nugget during the Monday's blowout in Foxboro, one that had Patriots head coach Bill Belichick shrugging off Josh Allen's MVP-worthy season for the Buffalo Bills.

The perceived diss came during Belichick's production meeting with the MNF crew leading up to the game. Griese paraphrased Belichick's comments on the Buffalo quarterback, saying that the head coach wasn't buying into Josh Allen's MVP run "because he didn't see it" the first time the Patriots played the Bills back in November. It was a pretty sloppy retelling by Griese.

The Patriots did do a pretty good job against Allen back in Week 8, holding the cannon-armed QB to just 154 passing yards and no touchdowns through the air. (He did run for a score in Buffalo's 24-21 victory.) But Allen has been on fire since that game, and on Monday night, he torched the Patriots for 320 yards and four touchdowns.

Bill Belichick notoriously props up anyone he's about to face, whether they're the star quarterback of a playoff team or the punter of a team with no wins. He doesn't speak down about anyone -- at least not to the media.

Belichick was caught off guard when asked about his comments on Allen following Monday night's 38-9 defeat, unaware of what the broadcast team had said during the game. But during his radio interview with WEEI on Tuesday afternoon, Belichick made it clear that he was not downplaying Allen's season or what the quarterback has accomplished.

"I've been on the record plenty about the season Allen has had an the player he is. We've played him six times. He's a good player, does a lot of things well. I thought we would compete hard against him as we have in the past," Belichick told WEEI.

Belichick said that is where the miscommunication happened. He didn't belittle Allen; he was just expecting his defense to put up a much better fight.

"Just because the guy is having a good year doesn't mean we aren't going to go compete against him," Belichick said Tuesday. "I have a lot of respect for Allen and everyone that we play against."