Belichick has found his veteran patsie. Thomas is a willing contributer to this charade that diverts us all from the real situaion on the team.
I don't believe anyone knows what is going on in the locker room. You can chalk up these losses to (1) coaching, (2) players not playing with passion, (3) execution or (4) simply not having the talent necessary to win games. As the answer may reasonably be (1), (2), (3), (4), or any combination of the four, everyone here is simply guessing at what this means.
Is Thomas's issue with Belichick personal and based on his conduct? There was speculation in the media they clashed over player rep. issues. Retribution over actions in that role would be plain dumb for Belichick given the immediate sanctions for interference or retribution. Does Thomas have a bad attitude? His public commentary is not exactly making him look intelligent right now. Is his play the result of Belichick's clever plan to make him look worse than he actually is? If he looks bad, so does Belichick, so that would be a self-inflicted wound if that were the game.
If anything is clear about Belichick, he doesn't pander to the press. I strongly doubt any of these actions are along the lines of finding a scapegoat to serve up to the media to explain losses as I strongly doubt the media will accept the proposition that one player causes teams to lose. If you have been following the press, there are plenty articles about how Belichick has lost his greatness, either directly or implicitly, so Thomas really won't address those claims if Belichick cared at all. At best Thomas is a sacrificial lamb to motivate the remaining players, but sending Thomas home for a day really doesn't carry much weight in that regard considering the fact he was deactivated for a game. If that were the end game, cut him for the sake of this season and eat his salary if he will not toe the line and embrace the Patriot way.
It may be Thomas has an attitude problem, and the guys telling him to pipe down, specifically Bruschi, Harrison and Vrabel, are not there to shut him up this year. Is that definitely the answer? Who knows. The facts are not public. However, if Thomas keeps spouting the nonsense and fighting the head coach in the media, he will continue to sound like a clueless prima donna who needs the attitude adjustment and has not recently shown he is a top-tier LB who can make those comments with impunity.