December 22, 2020 | 3:40 PM
In a conversation that took awkward silence to a new level, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick chose to ignore a quarterback-related question from WEEI’s Lou Merloni.
The exchange Monday, on the show Ordway, Merloni & Fauria, started with Merloni asking if a change at quarterback could help the Patriots get in the end zone. Belichick paused six seconds and said, “I mean, we’ve talked about that.”
That was just the beginning. Merloni followed up by asking if Cam Newton is still the team’s starting quarterback this week.
“It’s been several weeks that we’ve continued to ask the same question,” Belichick replied.
Merloni then inquired if the situation changes at all now that the Patriots have officially been eliminated from the playoffs. Belichick still wouldn’t budge, responding that Merloni asked him the same question every week.
When Merloni proposed the possibility of looking at Jarrett Stidham in the last two weeks, 15 seconds of complete silence followed and Belichick never answered. Merloni kept trying, asking how Belichick plans to balance turning to Newton once again vs. looking at Stidham in a full game.
“Yeah. Great point, Lou,” Belichick deadpanned.
Here’s @OMFonWEEI exchange with Bill Belichick on the Patriots’ QB situation and potentially going with Jarrett Stidham over Cam Newton pic.twitter.com/T3zCcyDXmB
— Ryan Hannable (@RyanHannable) December 21, 2020
Glenn Ordway then asked if it’s a possibility that Stidham will start, to which Belichick said that the team has a lot of questions it needs to answer and that the Patriots need to do a better job in several areas.
Merloni took umbrage the next day with how Belichick approached the interaction.
“It’s easy when you’re winning,” Merloni said on Twitter. “You can disrespect people all you want. You can talk down to them as well…but when you start losing…you sound like a baby.”
It’s easy when you’re winning. You can disrespect people all you want. You can talk down to them as well…but when you start losing…you sound like a baby https://t.co/anD8zVXhNh
— Lou Merloni (@LouMerloni) December 22, 2020
The Patriots will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2008. They’re set to close the season against the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets.
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