Patriots

Bill Belichick actually answered a question about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce

Belichick also made a complimentary comparison between Christian Gonzalez and a past Patriots cornerback.

By Hayden Bird

September 25, 2023

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At the end of his weekly WEEI interview on “The Greg Hill Show” — after answering a plethora of Patriots-related questions following the team’s first win of the season — Bill Belichick was asked about another subject dominating headlines around the NFL.

What, exactly, does he think about Taylor Swift attending Sunday’s Chiefs-Bears game to watch tight end Travis Kelce amid rumors that two are dating?

“Well, I would say that Travis Kelce’s had a lot of big catches in his career. This would be the biggest,” joked Belichick.

This isn’t the first time the Patriots coach has been asked about Swift during his radio appearances. He’s previously discussed attending a Swift concert at Gillette Stadium over the summer, but was skeptical of officially calling himself a “Swiftie.”

Of course, Belichick was also asked about the state of the Patriots, now 1-2 after a 15-10 win over the Jets on Sunday.

After struggling to establish a running game in each of the team’s first two games (both losses), the Patriots were much more effective on the ground against New York.

In total, the Patriots rushed for 157 yards, yielding just 38 rushing yards to the Jets.

Belichick pointed to the necessity of running well when facing a defensive line like New York’s.

“Against a defense like the Jets, you don’t want to go back there and throw 50 times,” he explained. “That’s really not a good way to play them. They have a lot of good pass-rushers, so if you can keep the distances shorter and punch some runs in there and make them play the run, that balances things off. I’d say this was probably one of our better pass protecting games than in the last few times we played them.”

Mac Jones, who threw his only touchdown pass of the day — a 58-yard strike to tight end Pharaoh Brown — on play-action, also looked more effective as a result of New England’s ground game.

“The play-action works a lot better when you have a good running game going and you can make them play the run,” said Belichick.

“Don’t get a lot of draw on the play-action if they don’t respect the run, so they go hand-in-hand. It was a good play.”

Asked about the continued high level of performance from rookie cornerback Christian Gonzalez, Belichick paid a serious compliment to the first-round pick when he compared him to former Patriot (and 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year) Stephon Gilmore.

“One of the best things about Christian, especially at that position, is he’s very even-keeled,” Belichick noted. “He’s not overly emotional one way or the other, and he’s got a good, calm demeanor, a lot like Gilmore did.

“He’s seen some very good receivers the first three weeks,” Belichick added, “and we’re going to see another one this week with [CeedDee] Lamb.”

The Patriots will face Lamb and the Cowboys on Sunday at AT&T Stadium.