Indeed. As dissimilar as chalk and cheese. The guilty mind versus the deed.
And divorced from any argument these phrases all mean the same thing - precisely nothing. You could just as well quote Schwarzenegger with "I'll be back" and it would make as much sense.
The only fact anyone knows at this point is the action, so that is the only logical discussion point. Nobody claims to know an actual justification. Or you may be implying the response was unjustified, which fortunate for you can never be answered as nobody, including you, has a clue what actually transpired to this point, and Belichick will not explain an internal decision to the public. So speculate away that this was the first time any of these four had ever showed up late in their careers with the team and each fell into a glacial rift en route to practice and thus did their utmost to make it on time and Belichick was thus entirely unreasonable and unjustified in his response. It will make you feel a little more reasonable in your apparent conclusion.
It is also worthwhile to point out, in the event he ever made a statement at all, that if he said he "regrets the public scorn or backlash" rather than "I apologize for the action," those two phrases are distinctly dissimilar in import. The former just means the extra beating by the public was unfortunate and unintended, no more. It can also mean the players can thank Thomas for the extra media exposure.
