Unsurprisingly, Malcolm Butler didn’t divulge any new information about his mysterious Super Bowl benching during his press session with reporters Monday.
But that didn’t stop others from surfacing additional theories.
On “Merloni & Fauria” Monday, WEEI mainstay Dakota Happas called in and said he was told by two sources that Butler suffered a head injury prior to Super Bowl LII. But the Patriots didn’t place him in concussion protocol, because they didn’t want the league to determine Butler’s status for the big game.
“They did not coin it as a concussion, because they didn’t want to put him in the concussion protocol and leave it up to the league,” Dakota said. “He did not fly with the team. If you remember that week, there were reports he was sick. So they left him home. He then flew to the team late. They were hopeful they would be able to clear him by game time, and he was fine, able to go. They made a determination right near game time that he wasn’t right, but they sent him out there for one play, so he could get his game check.”
Lou Merloni said he’s heard a similar story as well.
When Butler signed with the Titans four years ago — roughly six weeks after Super Bowl LII — he told reporters he got “kind of sick” and “went to the hospital.” However, he stopped short of saying that was the reason he didn’t play. “They probably thought I was kind of late on the game plan; I wasn't as locked in as I should be and could have been a matchup deal. It could have been anything,” Butler said at the time.
The following year, Butler joked about his benching when the Titans practiced with the Patriots, but once again, didn’t supply concrete info. “You have to go ask [Bill Belichick],” Butler said. “It’s the past and I am past that.”
The other commonly floated theory about Butler’s benching is that he had a poor week of practice leading up to the game, or some sort of disagreement with then-defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. Seth Wickersham reports in his tell-all Patriots book, “It’s Better to Be Feared,” that Butler and Patricia traded “heated words at practice” over Butler’s “lack of effort.”
“At the team party after New England’s loss, Butler responded to teammates asking why he was benched by saying, “These dudes,” referring to the coaches, according to the book, ‘these ‘mother f—ers,’” Wickersham writes.
Immediately following the game, Butler told Mike Reiss the Patriots “gave up” on him.
“I don’t know what it was,” Butler said. “I guess I wasn’t playing good or they didn’t feel comfortable. I don’t know. But I could have changed the game.”
The Eagles torched the Patriots on the way to their 41-33 victory, accumulating 538 yards. Despite that, the Patriots never put Butler in the game. That still seems inexplicable today. Even if Butler did have a horrible week of practice, it’s bizarre the Patriots didn’t think he was a better option than guys like Johnson Bademosi and Eric Rowe, who got torched.
But maybe their hands were tied. The mystery continues on.