The Patriots were informed Monday that they were being docked two OTA practices and coach Bill Belichick was fined $50,000 for violating offseason practice violations, according to documents provided to BostonSportsJournal.com
At the heart of the matter: coach Joe Judge — referred to as Patriots' Special Teams Coach by the league in the documents — conducted special teams meetings that caused offense and defense players to be at the facility longer than their maximum four hours.
The NFLPA filed the complaint on May 4 alleging the four-hour violation. On May 9th, they amended it, "alleging that Patriots’ Special Teams Coach Joe Judge directed special teams players to be at the Club’s facility longer than the maximum of four hours permitted during Phase Two of the Club’s program."
The Patriots responded on May 17 — and the NFL noted the team complied fully with the situation.
The violations occurred on May 1, 2 and 4 and centered around "Special Teams Workshops" conducted by Judge, according to the league:
- The four-hour day for offensive players started at 7:30 a.m. Defensive players started at 9 a.m. The notice sent to players made no mention of special teams meetings.
- When the players arrived at the facility, special teams were on the schedule — 20 minutes ahead of offense and defense.
- "As such, the Workshops unequivocally violated the four-hour time limit imposed by Article 21, Section 5(b), as alleged in the amended complaint. The Club has candidly conceded, and the record unequivocally established, the violation."
- From the Patriots' viewpoint, the workshops were not mandatory and no attendance was taken. "Of course, the same can be said with respect to any and all facets of a Club’s offseason workout program. The point is that, even though voluntary in nature, Phase Two activity must begin and end within the constraints of the collectively bargained four-hour period," the league wrote in the violations letter.
- The league noted no further violations occurred after the complaint.
- It's noted that Belichick, on April 19, forwarded, to all coaches — Judge is named — the reminder about the four-hour window by the management council.
- On the canceled OTA days, "No player may work out at the Club facility on the cancelled days, and all players participating in the Club’s offseason program shall be deemed to have participated on the cancelled days in order to be credited for offseason workout pay or any workout bonus."
BEDARD'S ANALYSIS
- Is the rules violation a big deal? No, but it's pretty mindless and totally unneeded. I mean, Belichick reminded the coaches about the rule less than a month before, and they still violated it. Talk about an unforced error.
- Patriots losing 20 percent of their offseason practices with a new OC, line coach and offense is big/
- Judge is solely to blame here, and this is a pretty egregious violation for someone who is supposed to be Assistant Head Coach this year and making Belichick's job easier. Considering the totality of last year and this, you'd think jobs would be on the line — at least at most teams.
- You may think this is minor, but to the players it is not.
- You can rule out Mac Jones as the person who complained to someone (agent or NFLPA directly). It would have to be a player in a positional meeting and on special teams.
- You can't rule the team's NFLPA reps themselves just doing their jobs looking out for the players: Joe Cardona, Deatrich Wise Jr., Cody Davis and Matt Judon.
Fans, media also lose in this
Patriots knew full well they would be losing an open OTA and, of course, they imposed the sanction in a way that violates the spirit of the offseason media rules.
"To enhance publicity during the offseason, clubs must open to the media at least one of every three Organized Team Activity (OTA) days. ... The purpose of opening at least one of every three OTA days (not one-third of the total number of OTAs but one of every three) is for media to have at least one mandatory access day in each of the four weeks of Phase Three of a club’s offseason workouts."
The Patriots could have made Tuesday's practice open due to their self-imposed error, and did not.
The media that covers the Patriots — and, more importantly, the fans by proxy — now have one day/week less coverage of their team this offseason than the other teams. That's not right. Fans want to know about their team. They want to get excited about on-field reports. Patriots fans now get one fewer opportunity — because of a self-inflicted wound by the team.
This was the third time in the past few months that the Patriots had switched things at the last minute — making assistant coaches available right before the second day of the draft, days after being made available to satisfy the "monthly" guideline; moving Bill Belichick's draft availability at the last minute from his normal spot after the entire draft, to Friday after midnight — that causes less real coverage of the Patriots and allows for more speculation, which doesn't help anyone.
PREVIOUS PHASE 3 SCHEDULE
May 22
May 23
May 25 (open to the media)
May 30
May 31
June 2 (open to the media)
June 5
June 6
June 8 (open to the media)
June 9 (usually a team-building activity)
June 12
June 13
June 14 (mandatory mini-camp - open to the media)
NEW PHASE 3 SCHEDULE
May 22
May 23May 25 TAKEN AWAY (open to the media)
May 30 TAKEN AWAYMay 31 (open to the media)
June 2
June 5
June 6 (open to the media)
June 8
June 9
June 12
June 13
June 14 (mandatory mini-camp - open to the media)