New England Patriots wide receiver Josh Gordon was conditionally reinstated by the NFL on Saturday after being suspended indefinitely in December for being a repeat offender of the league’s substance abuse policy.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick released a statement regarding the reinstatement:
Statement from #Patriots head coach Bill Belichick regarding the league's reinstatement of Josh Gordon:
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 17, 2019
“For the past eight months, Josh’s situation has been entirely a league matter. When Josh returns to our program, we will evaluate the entire situation and do what we feel is best for Josh and the team.”
During halftime of Saturday night’s preseason game between the Patriots and Tennessee Titans, WBZ reporter Steve Burton decided to ask a question to Belichick that was quite obviously not going to get a meaningful answer:
“I do want to bring up Josh Gordon, because you put out a statement earlier today. Anything you’d like to add to that?”
While there’s hard to get anything useful out of an in-game preseason interview, this question is especially a waste of time.
Belichick responded with a simple “Nope.”
But Burton then doubled down, only making things worse:
“Not at all?”
Belichick:
“No, that’s why I put out the statement.”
Bill Belichick is in mid-season form #Patriots pic.twitter.com/FnXncDUcX0
— Casey Baker – New Account :/ (@_CaseyBaker) August 18, 2019
.@STEVEBURTONWBZ: "You put out a statement today [on Josh Gordon]. Anything you'd like to add to that."
Bill Belichick: "Nope."
Burton: "Nothing at all?"
Belichick: "That's why we put out the statement."
Perfect. #Patriots
— Adam Kaufman (@AdamMKaufman) August 18, 2019
Sometimes Belichick’s one-word/cranky/snarky answers can be a bit unprofessional, but he gave the proper response to this question. Really, what’s he going to say? If he had anything to add, he would’ve said more in the statement. And he’s especially not going to give a detailed response to a question like that in the middle of a game (even if it’s a preseason game).