New York Jets star makes Bill Belichick admission after ending Patriots' year
New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner says the team wanted to win against the New England Patriots because it was potentially Bill Belichick's last game as head coach.
Belichick, 71, is still under contract until 2024 but has just endured the worst season of his career. After the regular season finale, he said that talks will take place with Patriots owner Robert Kraft like they do every year after the season ends.
He also sounded open to focusing on coaching next year instead of also being the team's de facto general manager. Change is coming in New England after finishing dead last in the AFC East with a 4-13 record, with only the Carolina Panthers having a worse one leaguewide.
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After the Jets game, Gardner spoke of how the team was eager to ensure Belichick finished the season with another. When asked about breaking the Patriots' long winning streak against the Jets, the cornerback focused on Belichick.
"It means a lot," he said to NFL Network. "I'd be lying if I told you that one of our main goals wasn't to send Bill Belichick on his way for the last game, you know what I mean?
"So, that played a part in why we came out here playing the way we played." When asked why this was so important, he first spoke about the longevity of the coaching veteran.
Sauce Gardner said the New York Jets team wanted to ruin Bill Belichick's Patriots season finale send-off"First of all, he's been coaching probably since before I was born," Gardner added. "So I know he's been around a long time."
"And it's always talked about how much he hates the Jets. So if he's going to lose a lot of games, one of the games that he wants to win, he wants to make sure he beats the Jets. So, we had to make sure we came out here and put our style on tape."
The Jets managed to restrict the Pats to under 120 total yards and scored 14 unanswered points after New England levelled the game at 3-3 in the second quarter. After the match, Belichick made it clear he would only answer questions about the game, not his future.
"It's disappointing the way the game finished," he replied to a journalist disregarding that instruction, adding after another question about his job security: "I just finished the game here with the Jets. Put everything I had into it. Disappointed in the results.
"It was a disappointing year for all of us -- players, coaches, staff, the entire organisation. Not anything that any of us are in any way content with, but it is what it is."
However, he did share his thoughts on continuing coaching in the league. "I enjoy coaching, I still like coaching the team," Belichick said. "I like preparing the team, game-planning, coaching on Sundays. But the results weren't good, and none of us are happy with those."
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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