Last week, the New England Patriots were dinged two days of organized team activities (OTAs) after the NFL determined they had violated offseason rules.
Now, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is taking responsibility for the violations.
“The whole situation is in the past. It’s resolved, and we’ve moved on,” Belichick said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN. “It was three meetings [in Phase 2 of the offseason program]. . . . I’m responsible for it, so that’s it.”
The violation happened after New England coaches scheduled players to spend more time than they were allotted at team facilities. Specifically, the violation was due to a special teams’ workshops led by Joe Judge, per Reiss’s sources.
“Joe is great. Smart guy. Has a lot of experience. He’ll do whatever we need him to do, and he can do a lot. So, he will,” Belichick said of Judge.
The Patriots lost practices on May 25 and May 30 and Belichick was fined $50,000 over the issues.
When asked how missing the two practices impacted the team, the longtime Patriots coach cracked a joke, or at least his version of one.
“We had a good long weekend,” he said.
The Patriots are hoping to put a disappointing 2022 NFL season behind them and get back on track as they attempt to keep pace with Josh Allen’s Buffalo Bills and Aaron Rodgers’ New York Jets.
[ESPN]
