Bill Belichick promises that he is not in business of sending messages to players. So when running back Stevan Ridley was a healthy scratch for the team's Week 13 matchup against the Houston Texans, the Patriots head coach stresses that it was not because of a fumbling issue that has plagued the running back.
Two weeks ago, Ridley was benched after fumbling in the first quarter against the Denver Broncos. Ridley is possibly best back of the bunch in New England, but turnovers have caused him to take a backseat to others like LeGarrette Blount and Shane Vereen. That was the case on Sunday, but Belichick promises that he is not trying to send some kind of message to Ridley by not playing him.
"If I have a message to send to somebody, I'll just sit down and talk to them and tell them what it is," Belichick said, via the team website. "I can have a conversation and do have a conversation with anybody on the team that I need to have a conversation with. That's not a problem. There's no sending a message. You sit down and talk to somebody man-to-man and talk about the situation so that we're all on the same page as to whatever it happens to be and what the direction is going forward. That's easy. There's not sending a message. You just have a conversation with somebody. This isn't cryptic. We're just trying to win a football game, that's all."
Belichick did not go into any sort of details for what caused the demotion of Ridley and he also did not say whether or not the running back would return to a starting role for the remainder of the season. Belichick told reporters that when players are deemed inactive it is normally because of injuries, but Ridley had not popped up on any injury report throughout the week. However, his four fumbles off 135 carries could be considered an injury.
"The inactive players every week are based on, in part injuries and ultimately what we feel like for that particular game is the best decision for the football team in that game to try to win," Belichick said. "Along with every other decision on the team that I make, it's made with what gives our team, in our opinion, the best opportunity to win on Sundays. That's what all decisions are based on."
With Ridley out, Blount and Vereen have taken over the running back rotation. The Patriots technically ran a four-back system, but it is those two that stand out amongst the rest. Fantasy owners would be smart to give Blount an RB2 spot on the roster. No running back is going to put up big yards with Tom Brady at quarterback, but until Ridley can stop fumbling, Blount is the best option.
