Bill Belichick only wanted to talk football during his Friday press conference, but was instead met with question after question about Antonio Brown.
- Bill Belichick once again refused to comment on the allegations against Antonio Brown at his press conference on Friday.
- Belichick said he only wanted to talk about football, and sidestepped numerous questions reporters asked about Brown's status with the team.
- After three minutes of questions about Brown, Belichick ended the press conference.
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Bill Belichick refused to answer questions regarding New England Patriots wide receiver Antonio Brown at his Friday press conference.
Belichick opened his press conference focusing on the Patriots upcoming opponents, the New York Jets, complimenting the team's coaches and personnel. He then gave a statement trying to make clear that he would not be answering questions on Antonio Brown, who since signing with the Patriots has been accused of sexual assault and rape in a federal lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida.
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"I know there are questions about Antonio," Belichick told the media. "We take all the situations with our team very seriously. There are some things that we're looking into, but I'm not going to have any comment on any of the off the field situations or questions on that. Anything on football, I can answer."
Reporters attempted to maneuver within Belichick's given framework to get the Patriots coach to comment further, but he did his best to avoid giving any answers that commented on Brown, his position within the team, or the allegations against him.
"When we work on football, we work on football," Belichick said, when asked if Brown's off-field accusations complicate his ability to coach him.
"He's on our roster," Belichick said when asked if he expected Brown to be available to the Patriots on Sunday.
After a few more questions, Belichick reiterated that he would not be commenting further on Brown, and abruptly ended the press conference.
Belichick has been famously short with reporters in the past, making his refusal to answer questions regarding Brown expected, but still frustrating.
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With Belichick serving as the Patriots de facto general manager, he can't deflect questions about Brown's status within the team and place on the roster off to someone else in the Patriots organization, as head coaches on other teams might.
The NFL is currently investigating the case against Brown and met with his accuser earlier this week. Should the league decide to take action, potentially in the form of a suspension or moving Brown to the commissioner's exempt list, Brown's status as a Patriot could be in jeopardy.
But as things stand, Belichick has been pretty clear that he doesn't plan on commenting on the matter further any time soon.
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