Don’t Mess With Belichick: Patriots CB Butler Late, Held Out of OTAs
 Malcolm Butler here intercepting the pass at the end of the Super Bowl has been held out of OTAs due to a late flight. (USA TODAY Images) |
As award-winning American broadcaster Paul Harvey was so famous for saying….”Now we know the rest of the story.”
Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald through his sources reported on Wednesday afternoon that Patriots CB Malcolm Butler has been held out of OTAs due to being late for the first scheduled workout.
The Patriots hero of Super Bowl XLIX who intercepted Russell Wilson’s pass with 20 seconds left to seal the victory has been a popular figure this off-season and is expected to play a much larger role since the departure of Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner in 2015.
Many have questioned why Butler hasn’t been on the field for the first few weeks of OTAs and it was assumed that he had a minor physical ailment. Now we know that the only thing hurting right now is Butler’s pride.
Apparently, Butler scheduled a flight to Boston the day before OTAs were to start and his flight was delayed due to weather conditions. He arrived the next day but was late for the start and has been held out of workouts since. Butler is expected to be back on the field soon, possibly as soon as Thursday when OTAs resume for June 11-12. Mandatory mini-camp is scheduled for June 16-18 at Foxboro.
Howe reported that although Butler has been held out of workouts on the field, he’s been at all the other film sessions, team meetings and weight training. He’s reported to have been disappointed by his being held out but has taken it as a learning lesson and will no doubt leave himself such little travel leeway in the future.
Butler reportedly let the team know of his canceled flight but the lesson from Bill Belichick is to not leave anything to chance. Coming from a military background at Navy, the subliminal message is, if you are the last guy here just 5 minutes early…you’re late.
So Butler has learned the hard lesson of Jonas Gray from last year….don’t be late. The biggest take away from this off-season is, Bill Belichick doesn’t mess around and Super Bowl or not, no leeway will be given to anyone. Bottom line here is that these "voluntary" workouts are in name only to Belichick and the Patriots. And he takes the attendance and punctuality seriously. For a young player it is a hard but necessary lesson.
Butler will be competing with Logan Ryan, Bradley Fletcher, and Robert McClain for the top three slots at cornerback this season. The Patriots expect Butler to make a big jump in Year 2 from a rookie season where he played in 16 percent of the defensive snaps.
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