Bill Belichick doesn’t want to motivate his opponents. After more than two decades as head coach of the New England Patriots, he knows even the simplest misinterpreted quote can turn into bulletin board fodder for a suddenly-furious opponent.
This typically manifests in short, terse responses when asked to look forward at an upcoming matchup. On Wednesday, Belichick wasn’t even willing to risk that. Instead, the future Hall of Famer spent a solid chunk of his press conference delivering a soliloquy on just how much he likes the Chicago Bears.
The Chicago Bears are, for reference 2-4 on the season to date and rank 31st in a 32-team league when it comes to points scored.
Bill Belichick with a whopping seven minutes and over 1,000 words on how good the Bears are pic.twitter.com/xS9UbK7zru
— Dakota Randall (@DakRandallNESN) October 19, 2022
Over the course of seven minutes, Belichick heaped praise on:
- Justin Fields (“major threat”)
- Darnell Mooney (“outstanding”)
- Khalil Herbert and David Montgomery (“very good” and compared favorably to the Browns’ top-ranked rushing offense)
- Velus Jones Jr. (“great,” despite two costly fumbles already in 2022)
- punter Trenton Gill (“whacks it down there pretty good”)
- Robert Quinn (“one of the great defensive linemen of his era,” currently has one sack in six games)
- and first-year head coach Matt Eberflus (“has really done a good job), among many more.
Bill Belichick Live Press Conference 10/19: https://t.co/filV872Jti
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 19, 2022
It’s a lot of positives to describe a team that hasn’t provided all that many for its fans this season. While there are certainly some kernels of truth in there, it may not accurately reflect a team whose only wins this season have come against an overmatched rookie in a rainstorm (Week 1 vs. the San Francisco 49ers) and the rebuilding Houston Texans (Week 3).
We’ll see if this effusive praise lulls the Bears into a state of false security when these teams play Monday night.
