While Devin McCourty said he knew Malcolm Butler wouldn't start in Super Bowl LII, Patriots defensive tackle Alan Branch said he had no idea when appearing on Dale & Holley with Keefe on Tuesday.
“I didn’t know anything, honestly," he said in an appearance promoting the No Appetite For Bullying initiative. "On our team, gossip doesn’t travel.”
Added Branch: “I noticed he wasn’t in the game, but then again you never know the reason for what is going on at certain times in that organization, especially. It’s neither here nor there.”
Branch was inactive for the final three games of the regular season and the entire postseason, but said he was healthy enough to play in the playoffs after suffering a knee injury in Miami Dec. 11.
He said he was told he would be inactive for the Super Bowl on the Friday before the game.
“It depends. Sometimes you are made aware the Wednesday of the week coming up, or sometimes you are made aware 10 minutes before the legal deadline for the team to drop off their depth chart [inactives]," said Branch.
As for what it's like playing for Bill Belichick, he said it's a standard coach-player relationship.
“Playing for Bill is like playing for any other coach," he said. "A personable guy at times and then when it is time to get serious he’s the furthest thing from. To me, I think it is a normal type of relationship when it comes to that."