Patriots try and explain why Butler was benched for Super Bowl LII loss to Eagles

MINNEAPOLIS — Malcolm Butler was sitting at his locker after Sunday's Super Bowl LII loss, and he looked up at the assembled media.


“I ain’t got nothing to say,” he said, as he dressed quickly and left the Patriots locker room.

Butler did not play a snap in Sunday's loss to Philly, a surprising personnel decision that left many scratching their heads after the game. The cornerback spent all night in Sunday’s Super Bowl LII on the sidelines, a jarring sight for a defensive stalwart who played 98 percent of the defensive snaps over the course of the regular season, tops on the team.

Head coach Bill Belichick said Butler wasn’t benched because of a disciplinary decision. Instead, it was in the best interest of the football team.

“We put best players and game plan out there that we felt was best for tonight,” he said after the game.

“We just played all the guys we could to try to help us win in whatever packages we had,” explained defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. “Different situations came up and we were just trying to move some things around.”

Asked if Butler was physically able to play, Patricia reiterated his point.

“We just tried to play all the packages that we could to put everybody out there,” he said. “He was active for the game and anybody that is active for the game is ready to go. We just had a situation where we had some matchups and packages that we went with.”

Butler did speak briefly to ESPN afterward, offering some theories as to why he didn’t play. He wondered if it was because “I wasn't playing good or they didn't feel comfortable. I don't know. But I could have changed that game."

The Eagles appeared to take advantage of his absence, as Philly quarterback Nick Foles targeted Eric Rowe on a number of occasions on Sunday, going 28-for-43 for 373 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception.

Rowe said he wasn’t aware he’d be starting until nearly game time, but he said he wasn’t surprised he had the workload that he did against Philly. After he gave up an early touchdown, he appeared to rebound a bit.

“I just kept telling myself, ‘I want them to keep coming at me and coming my way,’” he said after the game. “It was really just the confidence in me. As the game went on, I was more mentally confident.

“We could have used anybody,” Rowe said when asked if Butler could have helped. “Whoever the coaches throw in, obviously, we have full confidence in them to affect the game. We could have used anybody.”

Butler had struggled with illness over the last month, but when his teammates were asked if they could see this coming, they all pretty much shrugged.

“We all just get ready to play. That’s all out of our control,” said defensive back Devin McCourty when asked about Butler not playing. “We lost, no matter what. We can look back at a bunch of different things. But we lost as a team.”

Asked if it surprised him that Butler didn’t play, defensive back Duron Harmon shrugged and replied: “Ask coach.”

Butler will now head into free agency with this memory fresh on his mind. Maybe that’s why it wasn’t hard to understand why he appeared to leave some of his Patriots’ gear in his locker as he departed the stadium and headed for what will almost certainly be an eventful offseason.