Patriots coach Bill Belichick grumbled his way through many answers at Monday morning’s season-ending press conference, but he did get off a good one-liner in talking about his role as coach for the AFC Pro Bowl team.
Asked whether he’ll be able to scout players on other teams during Pro Bowl practices, Belichick offered a wry response.
“With the tempo of those practices, I think that would be pretty minimal,” Belichick said. “We’ll scout the golfing.”
Obviously, Belichick and his staff would prefer to be preparing for the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl, not the Pro Bowl. But Belichick said he knows that’s his job now.
“It’s definitely not where we want to be, but we’ll go out there and do it,” Belichick said.
The press conference was also notable for Belichick’s refusal to get into questions about Patrick Chung’s failed fake punt, which led to a Jets touchdown. Belichick simply isn’t going to go there, seemingly because he wants to protect Chung from any further criticism.
And although Belichick didn’t enjoy speaking to the media this morning, he did conclude his final press conference with some warm words.
“I appreciate everybody’s cooperation and patience at times and I’m sure we’ll see you at some time here down the road,” Belichick said. “Thank you.”