Bill Belichick might need to call himself out in front of the New England Patriots on Friday.
Belichick committed the ultimate Patriots sin by creating bulletin board material for the Minnesota Vikings — except he didn’t.
Cordarelle Patterson told the Pioneer Press that he’s extra motivated to beat the Patriots in their Week 2 matchup on Sunday based on something he read that Belichick said.
“I’ve seen a little article today where Belichick, I think he said he didn’t want me,” Patterson told Minnesota reporters Thursday. “So that’s the kind of things that stick in the back of a player’s head. And you get out there, you just want to beat the defense up since people say things like that.”
Belichick and the Patriots had the No. 29 overall pick in the 2013 NFL draft and traded it to the Vikings for second-, third-, fourth- and seventh-round picks. The Vikings picked Patterson and the Patriots selected linebacker Jamie Collins, cornerback Logan Ryan, wide receiver Josh Boyce and they traded the seventh-round selection for running back LeGarrette Blount. The trade looks good for both teams, and while the Patriots have a slight advantage for now, a continued breakout from Patterson could swing the deal the other way.
Belichick was asked about that trade by the Vikings media during a conference call on Wednesday.
“We made the decision based on what we felt was best for our team,” Belichick told reporters. “That’s what we always do. We felt like at that time it would be the best thing for our team, and that’s what we did.”
Belichick was asked whether the Patriots would have taken Patterson if they had stayed put in the draft, rather than trading down.
“I don’t know. We didn’t hold onto it,” Belichick said. “There were a lot of good players at that point. We feel we got one with the player we picked plus the other selections we received in moving back.”
It’s possible that Patterson saw an article on NFL.com with the headline “Bill Belichick: No regrets in Cordarrelle Patterson deal.” Belichick and the Patriots have had nothing but positive things to say about Patterson this week.
“He’s big, strong, aggressive, hard to tackle,” Belichick said Friday about Patterson. “He’s got good vision, and he hits seams, but even there are a lot of times where guys get a shot at him and they just can’t tackle him or he runs through tackles. He’s got breakaway speed. That type of player — can hit the home run, can do the distance, sometimes it’s there but sometimes it’s really not there and he still makes a lot out of it. That’s the mark of a real good returner, a guy that can take something that doesn’t look like its great and turn it into a big play.”
Photo via tew Milne/USA TODAY Sports
