Super Bowl XLIX hero, Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler, has been absent from the Organized Team Activities to this point and now we have more details on the situation.
Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald reported Wednesday afternoon the second-year defensive back showed up late to the first practice and has been held off the field ever since.
Reportedly, Butler scheduled a flight to Boston the day before OTAs began and his flight was delayed due to weather conditions. When he arrived to the facility the next day, he was late for the start and head coach Bill Belichick decided to keep him off the field for the last three weeks.
Howe added while Butler has been held out of workouts on the field, he's been at the team meetings, film and weight training sessions.
Butler is expected to be back on the field soon, possibly as soon as Thursday when OTAs resume for June 11-12. The Patriots will hold Mandatory mini-camp on June 16-18.
While Howe gave us more clarity on a murky situation, there's still a question if there's more to the story. Based on the given information, however, this punishment seems very excessive and could ultimately prove to be more detrimental to Butler's development.
One line of thinking is Belichick could be trying to bring Butler back down to earth, after a busy off-season filled with public appearances and autograph signings born from his Super Bowl heroics.
But is this the right way to go about it?
It's hard to question one of the greatest coaches in NFL history, but that doesn't mean every move is the correct. By keeping Butler off the field for three weeks, he's lost mental reps as he goes into his second year.
Given the cornerback (lack of) depth, Butler is penciled in as a potential starter. While showing up late to work is wrong, these OTA workouts are voluntary and weather is out of Butler's control. I guess it's easy to make excuses with hindsight 20/20, but this seems over the top, even for Belichick.
While each NFL season is a marathon and the team is just beginning this year's journey, we'll have to play the wait-and-see approach over the next few weeks and into training camp to see if there's any ramifications from this incident. Hopefully Butler learns from this and can give himself more wiggle room moving forward.
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