Bill Belichick spoke for about 30 minutes on Monday at the NFL Owners Meetings in Arizona. He answered over 50 questions in that time, but none of his answers elicited as much of a response as the one he gave when he was asked to give fans a reason to be optimistic about the future of the Patriots.

“I don’t know,” he said, after pausing to think. “The last 25 years.”

• It was a bit of a jarring comment from a coach that has very famously always preached focusing on the moment at hand – not looking forward or looking back. At other points during the media availability, he insisted that he was “not going to go back and rehash 2022,” or that “there will be a time to reflect back” on his career as a whole but “right now is not the time.”

  Fans weren’t the only ones to notice this seeming change in character from Belichick. One of his former players took note as well.

  “That’s my guy who had a little slip right there,” former Patriots linebacker and team captain Tedy Bruschi said on ESPN Tuesday morning. “I don’t know how many times I’ve been in meetings with Coach Belichick and the very first meeting is, ‘I don’t care about anything in the past.’ We win Super Bowls, ‘last year doesn’t matter’’ Pro Bowls don’t matter, All-Pros don’t matter. ‘Everything you’ve done last year doesn’t matter, fellas. It’s about who we are going forward.'”

  “Right now, Coach Belichick is off-message. That is something that his players shouldn’t hear — that he is basing some optimism to fans on ‘what I’ve done the last 25 years,'” Bruschi continued. “I don’t know if I’ve ever heard Bill mention something like that in terms of his whole body of work. It was surprising to me. I don’t know what’s going on in that locker room now, but players can hold coaches accountable. I’ve done it with Bill before when he said things postgame or during the week that I did not like and we had discussions in captains meetings or after games or whatever. I’m not in that locker room anymore. I’m just surprised because that’s not the Bill Belichick that I know.”

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• Another former and more recent Patriots captain, Devin McCourty, saw the comments in a different context. McCourty is another former longtime Patriots captain, like Bruschi.

  “I died laughing,” McCourty shared, also appearing on ESPN. “Watching it, seeing as Mike (Reiss) asked that question, in (Belichick’s) head I’m picturing him like, ‘I don’t care.’ He doesn’t care what the fans think. He doesn’t care if they’re gonna get excited, not get excited, coming to the game.”

  “Bill doesn’t think about the business of football. He thinks about putting a winning football team on the field,” McCourty continued. “So when he sat there and was like, ‘I don’t know, 25 years,’ I was like, ‘Yeah, Bill! Talk! Let ’em know who you are. Have fun.’ And I heard you guys on here chirping earlier. He’s not going into the locker room telling his guys, ‘Let’s focus on 25 (years).’ He’s gonna be on those guys, he’s gonna be telling them what they need to do, how to win football games. He doesn’t care about the last 25 years when it comes to his football team. But when it comes to the fans…he doesn’t care about those things. When he talks to his team, though, he’s gonna be demanding.”

  So far, no current members of the Patriots have shared their thoughts on the comment. The next player availability won’t be until OTAs in May, but social media has been quiet to this point as well. For now, the best way to gauge how Belichick’s comment is being viewed in the locker room is by players that have occupied that room in the past.

• Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Looking for a podcast guest? Let him know on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at [email protected].

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