Patriots Benched Malcolm Butler For Minor Rule Violation & Poor Practices

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that reported Monday on “NFL Total Access” that several factors led to the Patriots benching Malcolm Butler including being late and struggling during practice this week, due to an illness he was dealing with.

“One thing that Bill Belichick said this morning was that a lot goes into it,” Rapoport said. “And yes, from what I understand, there are several factors that led Malcolm Butler, one of the team’s top defensive players, to not be out on the field for the Super Bowl. Among those, he showed up a day later than teammates because he was sick. Remember, he was not at Opening Night. That was a factor. I’m also told that during practice this week he really struggled. Had a rough week of practice, perhaps because of illness, but maybe because of other things. That was one thing they had to consider in putting Eric Rowe out there instead of him.

“But I’m also told there were some other issues, disciplinary issues. There was a small or minor violation of team rules that happened earlier in the week that is one thing. And then there are some attitudes, frustrations as well. All of this combined to put Malcolm Butler not on the field with his teammates trying to win the Super Bowl, but on the sideline watching.”

Patriots HC Bill Belichick told reporters after Sunday’s loss to the Eagles that the decision to hold Butler out of the game was for “football reasons.”

However, Butler says the team gave up on him and he isn’t sure why.

“They gave up on me. F—. It is what it is,” Butler said, per Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. “I don’t know what it was. I guess I wasn’t playing good or they didn’t feel comfortable. I don’t know. But I could have changed that game.”

“It was a coach’s decision,” Butler added. “I was just doing my job and supporting my teammates. I have nothing but great things to say about the organization. They gave me an opportunity. That’s about it.”

Butler opened the game on the Patriots’ sidelines while New England went with a trio that consisted of Stephon Gilmore, Eric Rowe and Johnson Bademosi.

Butler is now in position to be an unrestricted free agent in the coming months and could very well be playing for another team at the start of the 2018 season.

Butler, 27, wound up signing on with the Patriots as an undrafted free agent out of West Alabama back in 2014. He played out the final year of his rookie contract before signing a one-year restricted tender worth $3.91 million for the 2017 season.

In 2017, Butler appeared in 16 games and recorded 60 tackles, two interceptions, a sack, three forced fumbles and 12 pass defenses for the Patriots. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 51 cornerback out of 120 qualifying players.

We have him featured in our Top 100  – 2018 NFL Free Agents list.