It is a pretty widely-considered fact that New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is not a fan of questions he has little expectation of knowing the answers to. Many football coaches are like that. On Tuesday, Belichick let one reporter have it when being pressed for medical information regarding backup-turned starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
“I’m a football coach; I’m not a doctor,” Belichick said when asked how he juggles some uncertainty with Garoppolo’s health and roster decisions. “The medical staff is the medical staff. I coach the team; the medical people handle the injuries. They don’t call plays. I don’t do surgeries. We have a great deal there. It works out good.”
Belichick clearly did not appreciate being asked to weigh medical conditions for players, stressing the fact that he lets the team’s medical professionals take care of that before Belichick even needs to make any football decisions. In a day where football injuries are under close scrutiny like never before, you can understand the uneasiness a coach may feel even discussing the subject at times.
“A player’s personal situation, his health, always comes first. That’s not a football decision; that’s a medical decision,” he said. “Football decisions are based on what’s best for the football team. That’s what we’ve always done around here, and that’s what we’ll always do as long as I’m here. It will never change. We’ll always do what’s best for the football team. That’s what it’s all driven by.”
Garoppolo sprained his AC joint in his right throwing shoulder on Sunday in a home game against the Miami Dolphins. Already serving as the starter during the four-game suspension to Tom Brady, Garoppolo was forced to leave the game and make way for third-string quarterback Jacoby Brissett, a rookie out of North Carolina State. Brissett is expected to make his first career start this Thursday against the Houston Texans.
[ESPN]
