Earlier in the week, speaking to the San Fransisco media, Bill Belichick had plenty of praise for 49ers tight end George Kittle.
"Kittle is a great player," Belichick said. "He does everything well. I'd put him right at the top of the league there, period. His ability to run, catch, get open, after the catch, block, he does everything at a high level. He's as good as anybody that I've coached or as good as anybody that we've played against."
Obviously, Belichick coached Rob Gronkowski, so some, including Rob Ninkovich, took the comments as a slight jab at the former Patriots tight end.
“I don’t get why he is doing that," Ninkovich said Thursday on The Greg Hill Show. "It seems like a little shot. It seems like a little jab."
He later added: “… I just think it may be a slight little jab there, which seems a little unnecessary. But, Kittle is good. You can’t argue with the fact that Kittle is the best tight end in the game right now. I personally think he is. He is better than [Travis] Kelce in the running game. He can block, he’s tough. He has a little bit of craziness to him where if he’s going to get hit he is going to jump up and scream a little bit. For me, I like him as the No. 1 tight end in the league right now. Best ever? It’s still Gronk to me.”
The Patriots will host the 49ers on Sunday.