At this time next week, it’s unclear if Bill Belichick will be able to call himself the head coach of the New England Patriots. The franchise icon’s job status has been the topic of conversation throughout the second half of the season after it was clear that the Patriots campaign had gone awry. He could very well be coaching in his final game with the organization when New England hosts the New York Jets on Sunday in Week 18.
As you may expect, however, Belichick doesn’t dive into the public scuttlebutt about his job status and simply keeps his comments on the task at hand, which has routinely been New England’s upcoming opponent.
“Whatever success I have had, I’ve tried to go about my job the same way every week — win, lose, good years, bad years, whatever they are,” Belichick told WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” when broached about his mindset and his uncertain status going forward, via ESPN. “Each week, get ready to go for that week, do the best you can to help your team win, and after that game move on to the next one. And at the end of the season, that’s the end of the season. But on a week-to-week basis, I don’t want to spend time, or get caught up in what happened five years ago, or what’s going to happen two years from now, and a bunch of other random stuff. Just working on the Jets.”
Pick Six Newsletter
Crafted By The Best NFL Experts
Get the day’s big stories + fun stuff you love like mock drafts, picks and power rankings.
See All Newsletters
Thanks for signing up!
Keep an eye on your inbox.
Sorry!
There was an error processing your subscription.
No matter what Sunday’s outcome against New York will be, the Patriots will finish last in the AFC East for the first time since 2000, which coincidentally was the first season of Belichick’s tenure as head coach. At the moment, the Patriots are projected to have the No. 3 overall pick at the 2024 NFL Draft, but that could change if they were to pull out a win against the Jets. While it could be in New England’s best interest long-term to lose this game, it doesn’t sound like Belichick gives draft position much thought in a game like this.
“I’m committed to the team that I’m coaching right now, the players that are here,” he said. “They deserve my best every day, and that’s what I’m going to give them.”
As he did coming out of Week 17, Belichick has been able to kick the can down the road in regards to talking about his murky future with the Patriots. However, the legendary coach is about to hit the end of that road once Sunday’s game with the Jets concludes. At that point, it’s the only question he’ll be asked. Soon enough, Robert Kraft might give him and the rest of the NFL an answer.
