Bill Belichick In Midseason Form When Asked About Stephon Gilmore, N'Keal Harry
BOSTON (CBS) -- There are many avenues through which Bill Belichick does business. Through the media is not one of them.
The Patriots head coach reminded the world of that on Tuesday when asked two specific questions about two players unhappy with their status on the team.
Belichick was asked by ESPN's Mike Reiss for the organization's position on cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who stated publicly that he wants to get paid what he is worth.
"Yeah, we're not going to talk publicly about a contract," Belichick curtly replied.
Reiss then asked about N'Keal Harry, whose agent publicly requested a trade, indicating that Harry wasn't given the proper opportunity to showcase his talents and abilities with the Patriots over the past two years.
"Yeah. I'm not gonna talk about contracts and personal situations," Belichick said.
Fair enough!
Those are, of course, responses generally in line with most of what Belichick has said about any matters involving contract disputes or public complaints from players. It is, however, a shift from mandatory minicamp, when Belichick seemed to have downplayed Stephon Gilmore's absence by noting that some weather issues and travel arrangements might have been to blame.
Gilmore reported to camp but was placed on the PUP list, thus keeping him from avoiding fines for missing any training camp sessions. But until or if his contract situation is resolved, the story figures to linger over Patriots training camp. Just don't expect Belichick to say much more about it than what he said on Tuesday.
