Tom Brady has spent the past 18 years playing for Bill Belichick. He has seen the Patriots head coach get heated from time to time.
Thus, it wasn’t all that shocking to Brady when Belichick freaked out on Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen during New England’s 24-10 win over Minnesota on Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
In fact, the Patriots quarterback got a kick out of the heated exchange.
“I’ve been on the other end of that a few times in my career,” Brady said Monday on WEEI’s “Mut & Callahan,” per WEEI.com. “Pretty funny. … It’s competitive out there. It’s very feisty and everyone’s emotions are on their sleeves. You say something and there is just an emotional reaction. That was pretty funny.”
The brief spat between Belichick and Thielen took place in the fourth quarter after Vikings running back Latavius Murray picked up just enough for a first down on a fourth-and-1 play with under nine minutes remaining. Belichick thought the Patriots stopped Murray short of the first-down marker and chose to challenge the play, but not before New England safety Patrick Chung went down with an injury — a move Thielen believed was designed to give the Pats more time to mull over the challenge.
Thielen wasn’t happy. And he made that clear. Belichick wasn’t taking any of Thielen’s on-field crap, though, and he fired right back, telling the Pro Bowl receiver to “shut the f— up.”
Belichick was asked Sunday after the game whether the exchange was just two competitive people exchanging holiday greetings. His response was much more in line with the monotone Belichick we’re accustomed to seeing.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Belichick said.
