Former Champion Explains Distaste for Patriots

This former NFL Super Bowl champion did not exactly enjoy his time with the New England Patriots.

Aug 17, 2019; Nashville, TN, USA; New England Patriots defensive end Michael Bennett (77) leaves the field after warmups before the preseason game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images / Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

The New England Patriots were certainly not for everyone during the Bill Belichick era. The atmosphere was always very serious, and no nonsense was tolerated.

Former NFL defensive end Michael Bennett came to know that very quickly during his brief stint with the Patriots in 2019, and during a recent appearance on the Games With Names podcast with Julian Edelman, Bennett explained exactly why he didn't love his time in New England.

“I just didn’t like it there,” Bennett said. “I just felt like I didn’t fit into the situation. ... I just came from, like, a very free-spirited place. Like, having to wear knee braces at practice. I never had to do nothing like that. I didn’t like my position coach because he didn’t know nothing about defensive ends or nothing like that. Every team I’d ever been on, the defensive line was one of the most important parts of the team. New England, I feel like, is more about the secondary and the linebackers.”

Bennett played in just six games with the Pats, logging five tackles and 2.5 sacks before being traded to the Dallas Cowboys midway through the season.

He would never play in the NFL again after that 2019 campaign.

Bennett began his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2009 and spent four seasons there before moving on to the Seattle Seahawks in 2013.

It was in Seattle where Bennett would hit his peak, helping the Seahawks win a Super Bowl during his inaugural campaign with the club and then making three straight Pro Bowl appearances between 2015 and 2017.

The 38-year-old then spent one season with the Philadelphia Eagles before joining the Patriots.

Bennett's comments do not come as much of a surprise, as Belichick was certainly hard-nosed. New head coach Jerod Mayo seems to have taken his foot off the gas just a bit, but that didn't stop him from calling the Pats "soft" earlier in the season.

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