How Bill Belichick Addressed Matt Corral Situation After Roster Move

Bill Belichick offered a brief update Monday on the status of New England Patriots quarterback Matt Corral.

Belichick wouldn’t share details about why New England placed Corral on the exempt/left squad list Saturday but said the team has been in contact with him since that transaction.

“He’s in exempt status, and I don’t have any comment on it,” the head coach said one day after the Patriots’ 25-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium. “That’s a personal matter.”

According to multiple reports, Corral left the Patriots without notice late last week, doing so one week after New England claimed him off waivers from the Carolina Panthers. Corral practiced with the team last Monday, Wednesday and Thursday but was absent Friday, with the Patriots listing him as a “not injury related” nonparticipant on their final Week 1 injury report.

One day later, New England placed the 24-year-old on the seldom-used expect/left squad list, which will allow the team to continue working with Corral while also freeing up a 53-man roster spot.

“He just left the team,” a source told FOX Sports’ Henry McKenna on Saturday. “Let’s just make sure he’s OK. I don’t know if it’s mental health. I just know he kind of flaked out. … Let’s be careful this guy doesn’t get thrown to the wolves.”

Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer on Sunday reported Belichick did not outright release Corral “out of fairness to the kid, because he’s been through a lot.”

“At the very least, this is a very delicate situation right now for the Patriots,” Breer said on NBC Sports Boston’s Patriots pregame coverage, “and I think out of respect for everything that Matt Corral’s gone through over the last six or seven years, Bill Belichick chose not to release him yet, to put him on that left squad list so they can get more information on where he’s at and how he’s doing.”

The Patriots signed Bailey Zappe off the practice squad to fill Corral’s roster spot, and Zappe served as Mac Jones’ primary backup in Sunday’s loss to Philadelphia.