FOXBORO -- Bill Belichick rarely gets fired up on the sidelines, but he sure did Sunday against the Vikings.
With the Patriots leading 24-10 and nine minutes left in the game, Minnesota had fourth-and-1 from its own 38-yard line and Latavius Murray ran up the middle and was stopped right at the marker.
“Obviously, I have to keep my cool," Thielen said after the game. "I have a lot of respect for him and what he’s done. I can’t lose it like that, but I just thought it was interesting timing for a guy to go down when it was a close play that could have been reviewed. For me, I just lost my emotions.”
He added: “I just thought the play was cheap. I wasn’t directing it towards him, I just thought the play was cheap. Like I said, I let the emotions get the best of me because it is a smart football play. If you are in that situation, why not? It’s not cheating because there’s no rule against it from a guy going down and I don’t know if he was hurt or not — he might have been fine. That is what it is. It’s just interesting timing for a guy to go down when it’s a close play.”
Thielen acknowledged Belichick yelled something back at him, but said no offense was taken.
“No offense taken. It’s football. There’s emotions," he said. "He can think what he wants to think about me and it doesn’t really change how I am going to play the game. He can hate me all he wants and I am still going to be the same person I am and I am going to try and do my best and compete every play.”
The star receiver finished with five catches on 10 targets for 28 yards and a touchdown in the loss.