New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick isn’t going to write you a listicle. He’s not ranking the best defenses under his tenure with the Patriots.
So when quarterback Tom Brady said the 2019 Patriots are playing the best defense he’s every played with, Belichick bristled. The coach was asked what he thought about Brady’s assertion.
“I’m not going to argue with Tom on that one. If that’s his opinion, I wouldn’t argue with him on that,” Belichick said during a conference call on Monday. “If that’s the way he feels, then great.”
It sounds like Brady in line for a tsk-tsk.
Brady has discussed the topic for consecutive weeks. After Week 4, Brady said “our defense is playing great football — the best football I can ever remember our defense playing.” This week, Brady said more of the same. Belichick brushed off questions about which defense is best.
“I’m not really thinking about ranking anything. I don’t really care about some defense five years ago, 10 years ago or 15 years ago,” Belichick said. “I mean, I don’t think any of that’s very relevant. What’s relevant to me is getting ready for the Giants and correcting the things that happened in the Washington game that we need to fix, both on a coaching level and a playing level, game planning, and getting ready to play the Giants. That’s really what I’m worried about, not some defense from 10 years ago. I mean, I don’t really care about that right now to be honest with you.”
That won’t stop Patriots fans from caring. And so the debates are probably just getting started.
