New England Patriots head coach faced the media for the first time since OTAs on Wednesday and had the chance to speak about Aaron Hernandez and his murder case for the first time as well and he spoke very carefully about the tight end, saying that he was disappointed and never saying the stars name.
Belichick was careful and concise and said that he was shocked and disappointed about what had happened and that the team will move on and that he will do the best he can to help the team win. He said that the team will become better as they move on from this and said that he won't comment further, as it is an ongoing legal case and he said to his players the same thing. Belichick said that the team will look at how it evaluates players going forward after what happened with Hernandez and all this came as the star appeared in court for a hearing in the afternoon.
The probable cause hearing was delayed until August and the next time he will appear in court will come later down the line. Hernandez was bearded and wearing a suit jacket and his family was also in court. Belichick's girlfriend Linda Holliday took to Twitter to commend her man for speaking on Hernandez, writing: @Linda_Holliday: Very well said today. And very proud of my man!
Belichick is considered one of the best coaches in the league and the Hernandez situation is a bit of a black mark, but he handled the media well and now he can move on to training camp, which will open for the Pats in a couple of days. The team is reporting to camp and there are a number of questions, including at tight end where the team has Rob Gronkowski coming off of an injury and obviously the Hernandez situation. The team will have Tom Brady and other players speaking to reporters this week and Brady spoke a bit about the situation with Hernandez, saying that he has moved on from the issue. Hernandez is in jail looking at life in prison for the murder of Odin Lloyd and after the hearing on Wednesday, his probable cause hearing was delayed to August.
"We'll learn from this terrible experience," Belichick said. "We'll become a better team from the lessons that we've learned. We have so many players on this team that work hard, that do the right thing, that set a great example of being a professional and being a solid representative of this team and the community."
