Bill Belichick had unique praise for a unique player on Tuesday. During the New England Patriots coach’s virtual press conference, he was asked about how James White has evolved as a leader.
Belichick had a lot to say about the running back, who is entering his eighth year with the Patriots. White has develop into one of the premier pass-catching backs in the NFL, with three Super Bowl wins and a Super-Bowl-winning, overtime touchdown to his name.
“James gives us great leadership both on and off the field,” Belichick said. “He’s a player that if he doesn’t say anything, you just watch what he does. He provides great leadership by his actions, the way he prepares, his consistency both on and off the field, his work habits and his attitude to always help the team and put the team first in whatever he’s asked to do.”
That’s standard praise from Belichick for the top leaders on his team. This is where Belichick’s comments took a turn toward special admiration for his player.
“As a coaching staff, he’s one of the players that I love to talk to. ‘How are things going? How do you think we’re doing? Where are we on this? Where are we on that?’” Belichick said. “He’s very honest, and he has a good perspective. It’s not too high, not too low. It’s very honest and helpful. It helps me prepare and manage the team. I’ve always done that with the players that I thought had a good pulse on things, and he’s certainly one of those guys, and that shows up a lot in the captains meetings that we’ve had in previous years.
“We haven’t elected captains this year, but he does a great job in those meetings of verbalizing where we are, what we need to do, how we need to do it, so forth. As I said, I really enjoy my personal interactions with James and his views and his perspectives. I think he brings a great level of insight to our team, but in his own style, and it’s an effective style. It’s just different than some other guys.”
You rarely hear Belichick go out of his way to praise a player in this manner. Clearly, New England values White’s presence and insight in a big way.
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