Bill Belichick doesn’t treat all members of the media with a sneer.
The usually surly Patriots head coach greeted legendary ESPN anchor Chris Berman with a round of applause at the start of his press conference Monday, remarking that it was an “honor” to have him in attendance.
Berman, who joined ESPN one month after it launched in 1979, started off the round of questions by asking Belichick if he still enjoyed training camp after four decades in the NFL.
“Love it. Love it. Training camp, another week,” said Belichick. “A good opportunity for us to continue to get better. Obviously no game this week, but there’s a lot for us to work on.”
To close the presser, Berman asked Belichick which position group he’s most confident in, and he actually gave a specific and detailed answer about the team’s diverse set of safeties.
“We’ve shown and used packages last year with all three safeties on the field,” he said. “Jabrill [Peppers] wasn’t here obviously, and [Joshuah] Bledsoe has had a good camp as well. So I think that’s a pretty competitive position not just for roster spots but also for playing time and how that gets distributed, so that’s probably No. 1.”
The Patriots feature numerous players at the position who can fill a variety of roles, including Devin McCourty, Kyle Dugger, Adrian Phillips, Myles Bryant and the newly acquired Peppers.
It’s apparent Belichick holds a lot of respect for Berman, as the two men are peers (Berman is 67). Berman recently re-signed with the WorldWide Leader to continue hosting NFL PrimeTime on its streaming service, ESPN+.
