Bill Belichick has a reputation as being a bit tight-lipped with the press, and that’s especially true when it comes to murder investigations.
The New England Patriots coach returned to training camp this week and faced reporters in what was one of his most open media sessions. He talked about the health of tight end Rob Gronkowski and his plans for training camp, but when the questioning turned to Aaron Hernandez, the coach clammed up a bit .
As the session came to an end, reporters asked Belichick to comment on some communications he had with Hernandez.
The line of questioning went:
Q: Are you concerned about what’s in the texts between you and Aaron Hernandez?
BB: I think that was addressed by a lawyer last week and I don’t have any further comment on it.
Q: Is it something you routinely do with your players, texting back and forth?
BB: I don’t have any further comment on it.
Q: Do you approach your players differently now given what you know now?
BB: No further comment.
The questions were referencing a July 18 statement from Andrew Phelan, a partner at Bingham McCutcheon, regarding reports of text messages between Belichick and Hernandez. Phelan dispelled reports that there were 33 pages of text messages , saying it was actually much less.
“Earlier this week, a report indicated that an exchange of text messages between the team’s head coach and Mr. Hernandez totaled 33 pages,” Phelan’s statement read. “While it is unknown how the texts were printed or displayed, I thought it was important to clarify that during an early investigation conducted by state prosecutors, the team produced a total of 34 text messages (not pages of texts) spanning a period of five months (December 2012 – April 2013) between the head coach and Mr. Hernandez.”
If fans are curious what Bill Belichick might have texted to Aaron Hernandez it appears they’ll have to wait until his murder trial, because it’s clear Bill isn’t going to talk about it.
