(USA TODAY Sports) — In a new episode of SI: Under the Cover that was released Friday, Malcolm Butler said he considered confronting New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick or defensive coordinator Matt Patricia during February's Super Bowl in an attempt to insert himself into the game.
Butler, who was arguably the team's top cornerback last season, was famously withheld from the team's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The 28-year-old told Sports Illustrated in a promo for the episode that he didn't bring up the matter to the coaching staff during the game because he wanted to respect their decision — but he did consider it.
"There was times when I was on the sideline, I just wanted to go up and say to Belichick or Matt Patricia, and just say, ‘This how we’re gonna end this?’" said Butler, who signed with the Tennessee Titans as a free agent this spring. "I grew up in the Patriots system, you know, and I’m a man of God. I respect my authority and I just couldn’t ask them for something they didn’t want to do. I just was doing my job.
"I was close to going up there and saying what I wanted to say to Matt or Belichick, but I just stayed in my lane and just did my job. And I really wanted to go ask him, but I didn’t."
Butler had played 97 percent of New England's defensive snaps prior to the Super Bowl, and nearly two months later, the reason for his benching is still a mystery.
Belichick said after the game that Butler's absence was not a disciplinary matter, and he declined to elaborate at the annual owners' meeting in Orlando this week.
Butler, for his part, told USA TODAY Sports' Jarrett Bell earlier this month that "I don’t know how much more I can explain; it was a ‘coach’s decision.'" He later speculated to The Boston Herald that it might have been related to his health.
"I feel like this was the reason: I got kind of sick. I went to the hospital," Butler told the newspaper. "They probably thought I was kind of late on the game plan; I wasn’t as locked in as I should be and could have been a matchup deal. It could have been anything."
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.
