Belichick, Patricia answer questions about Malcolm Butler's decreased playtime against Saints

Where was Malcolm Butler Sunday?

A guy who had played almost 100 percent of the snaps during his last two seasons was nowhere to be seen at the start of Sunday’s game against the Saints. The cornerback, a fierce competitor who acknowledged that his preseason performance wasn’t up to his standards, ultimately ended up playing 49 snaps against New Orleans — 75 percent of the action.

But his absence at the start of the game was noticeable. He didn’t speak with the media after the game on Sunday and wasn’t in the locker room during Monday’s media availability. On Tuesday morning, head coach Bill Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia were both asked about Butler’s playing time against the Saints and both of them said the same basic thing: playing time is not dictated by past performance, but by deciding what personnel and matchups give them the Patriots the best chance to win that week.

“Malcolm is kind of in the boat with everyone else — (he’s) just trying to get better,” Patricia said Tuesday. “(But) it’s all about this year. What things have gone down in the past don’t really matter to us. We’re trying to get better for this year, and the guys who are out there in positions where we think they need to be right now, currently, and to help us win that particular week.

“I think all those guys who go out there and play have earned some time on the field, and whatever that is, depending on the how the game is going, kind of just plays itself out when we’re in the particular situation we’re in terms of how the game is going.”

Asked if Butler had performed consistently well this season as he has in the past, Belichick said he was one of many that needed to continue to show improvement over the course of the season.

“We’re into a new season,” Belichick said. “I don’t think anybody’s performance this season is really where it needs to be, or where it will be. We all need to do a better job — players, coaches — all of us across the board. Hopefully, we’ll all continue to get better during the course of the year. That’s why we practice, and meet, and come in here and work hard, so hopefully, we’ll all be able to improve.”

In the context of this conversation, it’s interesting to note that two young cornerbacks appear to be on an upward trend. Eric Rowe and Jonathan Jones have seen an uptick in playing time over the last week, with Jones playing 27 snaps against the Saints and Rowe on the field for 34 snaps. Jones certainly caught the eye with a pair of impressive pass breakups that drew praise from his teammates and the coaching staff.

“I thought on both of those plays the technique that he used to finish the play, the final reception point, was excellent. Perfect,” Belichick said of Jones’ two pass breakups. “It was textbook technique, what we teach all of our players to do. But it’s a great illustration of Jonathan doing it and having two big plays, two very productive plays. Those are good examples for us to show, not only him but all of the other players in terms of playing those types of passes and finishing in the situation that he was in.”