Belichick Offers No Answers After Malcolm Butler Benching

Bill Belichick provided no specific details Monday about the team's decision to bench Malcolm Butler during Sunday's 41-33 Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

During a conference call with local media, Belichick said "In the end, we have to make the decisions that we feel are best for the football team. That’s what we did. That’s what I did."

As a follow-up to that question he was asked why playing Butler wasn't the best thing for the team. "I appreciate the question, but it would be a much longer discussion," Belichick responded.

Butler did not play a single defensive snap after playing 97.8 percent of those snaps in the regular season.

When asked if he considered playing Butler midway through the game as the Patriots defense struggled, he said "Yeah, I just covered that."

Butler arrived in Minnesota late after it was reported that he had experienced flu-like symptoms. He was a limited participant in Wednesday's practice, but the corner was not listed on the team's Friday injury report.

"I respect Malcolm’s competitiveness," the coach said. "I'm sure he feels like he could have helped. I'm sure the players felt the same way."

The Patriots defense did very little to slow down the Eagles' passing attack, as Nick Foles threw for 373 yards and 3 TDs on his way to earning MVP honors.