FOXBORO, Mass. — New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick made some telling comments about third-year defensive tackle Malcom Brown during his conference call Monday morning.
Though it seemed like generic praise, Belichick said Brown has “worked very hard” and is “getting better every week.” That’s a far cry from what Belichick said in December after Brown essentially was benched in a game until the fourth quarter. Belichick implied Brown lacked consistency.
It’s easy to see why Belichick was high on Brown on Monday after the Patriots beat the New York Jets 24-17 on Sunday. The Patriots limited the Jets to 3.1 yards per carry, and Brown was in the middle of many short-yardage and negative plays for New York. Brown, who leads Patriots defensive tackles with 262 snaps, finished the game with four tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss.
Brown, the 32nd overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft, isn’t about to get complacent just because Belichick is heaping praise on him, however.
“It makes me feel good,” Brown said. “The coaches see it. I don’t really — I can’t really take that and run with it. I just gotta continue — I can’t just say ‘I’m gonna settle now.’ I’m not there all the way. I can certainly get better at some stuff.”
Brown said he can’t get high on himself just because coaches are praising him for things he should be doing anyway. And he didn’t take the criticism lightly last season when Belichick talked about his consistency.
“You always take it to heart because however your coaches see you, that’s however much you’re gonna play,” Brown said. “However they see you determines how much your playing time is going to be. I just continue coming in to try to work, and he keeps encouraging me, and I continue to go out there and work and we’ll take it from there.”
Brown has 23 tackles, one sack and three tackles for loss on the season. And while the Patriots’ run defense wasn’t overly strong until Week 6, it hasn’t been through any fault of Brown’s, who, as Belichick said, does appear to be playing better every week.
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
