The Patriots pile-on continues.
One day after New England’s disheartening 10-6 loss to the Colts in Germany, former NFL defensive lineman Chris Canty suggested longtime coach Bill Belichick “has lost the ear of the players in the locker room” as the once-dominant franchise sunk to 2-8 on Sunday.
“The biggest takeaway for me is that Bill Belichick has no hope of resurrecting this program. There’s no way that he can get this thing back on track,” Canty said Monday on ESPN Radio’s “Unsportsmanlike.”
“He has lost the ear of the players in the locker room and that’s a terrible place to be.”
Canty, a member of the Giants’ championship roster that defeated Belichick’s Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI in 2012, then noted how the coach’s body language Sunday summed up the Patriots’ sad state of affairs.
4 Bill Belichick on the sidelines of the Patriots-Colts game on Nov. 12, 2023. Getty Images
“I thought the optics of what you saw at the end of the game with his head in hands is telling in terms of where the state of affairs is with the Patriots program overall,” the 41-year-old Canty said.
Though Belichick won six Super Bowls with the Patriots, whom he has coached since 2000, his future with the organization has come into question as the losses have piled up.
“Well, I just do the best I can every day,” Belichick said of his job security.
4 Chris Canty spoke about the state of the Patriots as the team dropped to 2-8. X/ESPN
4 Patriots quarterback Mac Jones was benched in the 10-6 loss to the Colts. Getty Images
A cloud of disappointment has lingered over New England for much of 2023, with team owner Robert Kraft voicing his displeasure over the current climate on Sunday.
“This is our thirtieth year that I’ve had the privilege of owning this team, and I’ve never been 2-7,” Kraft said before kickoff. “So it’s really disappointing and I hoped that things would be a lot better, as I know our fan base did. And I hope today is a chance to reset and make this a much better year. This isn’t what we were expecting to happen this year.”
Sunday was not the reset Kraft had hoped for as embattled third-year quarterback Mac Jones was benched yet again.
4 Patriots quarterback Mac Jones and head coach Bill Belichick in October 2023. Boston Globe via Getty Images
Belichick did not commit to Jones, the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, as the starting quarterback for the Patriots’ next game against the Giants.
“We’ll deal with next week next week,” Belichick said Sunday.
The Giants, also 2-8, will host the Patriots on Nov. 26 following New England’s bye week.
