The mystery surrounding why Malcolm Butler was benched during the Super Bowl is carrying into its second month.
Up to this point, there have been no answers as to why Bill Belichick decided to sit one of his two best cornerbacks while the Eagles shredded the Patriots' pass defense. In a statement released Feb. 6, Butler was adamant there were no off-field conflicts prior to the big game. Several Patriots players, including Tom Brady, liked the post on social media.
Earlier this month, Patriots safety Devin McCourty, while empathizing with his teammate, said everybody knew Butler wasn't going to start in Super Bowl LII. But broadcaster Al Michaels pushed back against that notion on Rich Eisen's radio show Tuesday.
"The day we went to practice, (Butler) practiced every play, Michaels said. "So nobody had any idea about this. I know Devin McCourty has been quoted recently as saying everybody knew about it. I'm thinking, 'Wait a minute, how did everybody know about this?' If he's practicing every play –– and the only thing I would say in retrospect, first of all, we don't know really what happened. I guess sooner or later, there has to be something there. There has to be something there. We had a shot of him crying during the national anthem, so he knew at that point he wasn't going to play. Then the game evolves the way it does, and they're getting shredded in the secondary. So why does he not come in?"
Butler, who's expected to become a free agent, played 98 percent of the snaps in the regular season. He only appeared on the field for one special teams play in Super Bowl LII, prompting Michaels to question why Butler was even active.
"The only question I would have, in addition to trying to find out what really happened, if he's not going to play, why wasn't he deactivated?," Michaels asked.
Since the Patriots only dressed four cornerbacks, it's likely Butler was activated for emergency reasons. To most, Eagles quarterback Nick Foles moving the ball at will against the Patriots would qualify as an emergency situation. But clearly, Belichick did not see it that way. The saga rolls on.
