New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is about as no nonsense as NFL coaches come. So we’re not surprised in the least that he had no issue making his offense run laps in the rain and mud after a poor day of practice.
Backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo owned up to the team’s bad play but was not too happy about the punishment.
“We’re not really used to doing that, so it wasn’t very pleasant doing it, but it was deserved,” Garoppolo acknowledged afterward, per Mike Reiss of ESPN. “We weren’t happy with our play. Coach wasn’t happy with our play. And we had to run because of it.”
According to Reiss, the offense botched several plays including some blatant errors committed by Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett. Other issues noted in practice were multiple dropped passes by tight end Dwayne Allen. The rain and cold temperatures of roughly 50 degrees contributed to the poor play.
But at the end of the day, there are no excuses, as noted by tight end Rob Gronkowski.
“It was rainy, it was windy, it was wet, it’s all part of the game. Whatever the conditions are, you have to go out there and play,” Gronkowski said.”
This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that Belichick will have to take such measures. He runs one of the tightest NFL ships in the league and his methods for success are practically fool-proof.