Belichick press conference: Brady gone for season and that tackle.....

September 8, 2:12 PMSports ExaminerPaula Duffy

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At his press conference this afternoon Bill Belichick was his usual expressionless and enigmatic self. In other words you couldn't tell if he was happy or sad. And if a journalist had a follow-up question and Bill thought he'd already answered it or just didn't want to go into detail he'd look at the reporter and repeat what he just said. Typical stuff.

Except that this time he was talking about the loss of Tom Brady, his MVP quarterback around whom the team is built and who has steered them to three Super Bowl championships since that quarterback has been the starter.

But unlike others who are categorically saying that the hit on Brady's leg was a totally legit play, Billy B left that branch out there swinging for someone to jump from. He said that any review would and should be done by the league, but HIS players are all told that the only places to tackle a quarterback are between the top of the knee and the shoulder.

As the coach of some of the league's most-whispered-about dirty players that got a smirk out of me. Of course Belichick was smirking the whole time so it's hard to tell if it is just his permanent frozen expression or he meant to make a point.

His other big point was to emphasize that the team expects Matt Cassel to be its starter and that despite rumors of other players coming to Foxboro for interviews, unless something changes, Cassel is the go-to guy. Well, at least until that changes...right?