Getty Image
The Patriots welcome the 49ers to town on Sunday afternoon and during a media session earlier this week, New England head coach Bill Belichick was asked about San Francisco tight end George Kittle. While Belichick usually keeps his opinions rather close to the vest, he has a love for skilled tight ends and spoke glowingly of the two-time Pro Bowler.
“Kittle is a great player,” Belichick said according to the NY Post. “He does everything well. I’d put him right at the top of the league there, period. His ability to run, catch, get open, after the catch, block, he does everything at a high level. He’s as good as anybody that I’ve coached or as good as anybody that we’ve played against.”
Belichick certainly didn’t say anything wrong, Kittle really does do everything well, but it is a bit surprising to hear him say that he’s as good as anybody that he’s coached having had coached Rob Gronkowski for so many years.
One former Patriot took exception with Belichick’s comments about Kittle and saw it as Belichick taking a jab at Gronk.
Former linebacker Rob Ninkovich read between the lines and came up with the opinion that Belichick essentially praising Kittle was unnecessary.
“I don’t get why he is doing that,” Ninkovich told WEEI on Thursday. “It seems like a little shot. It seems like a little jab… I just think it may be a slight little jab there, which seems a little unnecessary. But, Kittle is good. You can’t argue with the fact that Kittle is the best tight end in the game right now. I personally think he is. He is better than [Travis] Kelce in the running game.
“He can block, he’s tough. He has a little bit of craziness to him where if he’s going to get hit he is going to jump up and scream a little bit. For me, I like him as the No. 1 tight end in the league right now. Best ever? It’s still Gronk to me.”
Now, this could just be the former Patriot sticking up for another Patriot great in Gronkowski, but one thing we do know is that things are far from perfect in Foxborough at the moment.
The Patriots are 2-3 on the year and six weeks into the season find themselves in very unfamiliar territory at third place in the AFC East standings.