MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Bill Belichick took unprecedented measures in hopes of helping the Patriots earn a Week 1 victory against the Dolphins. He flew his team to South Florida five days before the season-opening matchup, giving his players an opportunity to acclimate to Miami’s ultra-humid climate. Belichick clearly cared a lot about starting the season off with a win.
But it was all for naught. In the end, the Patriots looked like the late-2021 Patriots — in all the worst ways — and suffered a 20-7 defeat to a team that now has won four straight against them. Belichick now is 0-4 against the still-average Tua Tagovailoa.
Oh, and Mac Jones suffered a back injury to boot.
And Belichick sounded like he was carrying the weight of all those issues during his post-game news conference. For just under four minutes, the Patriots head coach quietly responded to questions while giving mostly short answers.
Here’s a transcript:
(Note: We’re paraphrasing questions.)
Opening statement: “Well, it’s obviously a disappointing start here. It was really a pretty even game. Two big plays, 14 points, really skewed the game. Moved the ball. We couldn’t get enough points, and we got into their territory. We got in their six, seven times, whatever it was, and it was seven points. So we’ve got to do a better job of finishing. Defensively, gave up a big play there at the end of the half and a couple field goals, but still need to play better on third down. Obviously getting the ball back there at the end of the game. Not enough good things to win. A couple bad plays really hurt us. Need to finish some drives better on both sides of the ball and make an impact. Just build on this and go back to work.”
Question: “What did you see on the Brandon Jones’ strip sack-fumble against Mac Jones?”
Belichick: “Yeah, we missed him.”
Question: “Is Jones hurt?”
Belichick: “I haven’t been in the training room.”
Question: “How do you think the new offense performed?”
Belichick: ” I think I just said that. Moved the ball. Had a couple of plus-50 punts, but we generally moved the ball but didn’t produce enough points.”
Question: “Was there a reason Kendrick Bourne didn’t play much?”
Belichick: “No, it just worked out that way.”
Question: “Do you wish you played him more?”
Belichick: “We did what we thought was best.”
Question: “Was it disciplinary?”
Belichick: “No.”
Question: “What do you need to see from him?”
Belichick: “We talk to all the players. We just all need to do a better job, obviously, coaches, players. We just all need to perform better. So we’ll work on that.”
Question: “Are you glad you brought the team down early?”
Belichick: “Yeah, there was no problem. We had a good week.”
Question: “How would you describe Jones’ performance?”
Belichick: “There weren’t a lot of incomplete passes.”
Question: “Was Cole Strange going to the bench part of a rotation?”
Belichick: “Yeah, we planned to play as many people as we could. I think we played just about everybody.”
