A few quick hits from Bill Belichick’s interview with sports radio WEEI on Thursday afternoon, which included quite a bit of looking back as this was Belichick’s first radio appearance since the team's playoff loss:
1. Revisiting the botched fake punt. Belichick didn’t want to get into details on the botched fake punt at the end of the second quarter against the Jets. Safety Patrick Chung had previously taken responsibility for calling the fake and Belichick said, “Patrick [Chung] feels badly about the way it happened, but again, that’s one play. That game was made up of more than one play.” That was the first time Belichick has referenced Chung when discussing the play.
2. Belichick’s thoughts on first quarter of playoff loss. Looking back on the season-ending setback to the Jets, Belichick said he felt the Patriots’ mistakes in the first quarter – when they could have had as big of a 14-0 lead – hurt more than anything the Jets did from an Xs and Os standpoint. “I think that probably gave them some more confidence to keep doing what they were doing, even though we moved the ball well, and it got better for them,” he said.
3. Follow-up on Welker sitting on the first drive. Belichick was asked if he was concerned that benching Welker for the first drive let the Jets’ know that their trash-talking had gotten to the Patriots. He said that wasn’t a concern. “I was thinking more about what I felt was the best thing for our football team, what I needed to do,” he said.