Bill Belichick remains mum on status of Logan Mankins
Notorious in the NFL for holding his cards close to the chest, Bill Belichick has not revealed the playing status of Logan Mankins for this week.
On Friday, 5 November, the New England Patriots head coach referred to Mankins, but neither confirmed nor denied whether the offensive lineman would be available for this weekend’s matchup against the Cleveland Browns.
Mankins, a sixth-year guard out of Fresno State, rejoined the team earlier this week following a lengthy contract holdout. Since returning, the two-time Pro Bowler has participated in two practices. Still, employing the technique that he has become widely known
for, Belichick would not definitively comment on the lineman’s status for Sunday.
"We’ll just take it day to day here," the head coach said, according to ESPNBoston.com.
"We had a good day yesterday in terms of contact, padded and all that, and we’ll see how things are today. We’ll take a look at it tomorrow. A lot of times it’s the day after, or two days after, with players who are coming back, whether it’s from injuries
or, in this case, he wasn’t here."
Belichick, who is known as much for his roundabout approach with the media as his coaching ability, evaluated all of the facets that continue to mould his decision on whether or not Mankins will see the field this weekend.
"The more days, the more time you have, I think the better you feel about the situation one way or the other,” Belichick said. “To bring him on to the roster, we’d have to make a move, so that’s a decision. I think you take that as long as you can until you
make the decision. You want to make the right one, not make a mistake on that. We’ll see how it goes."
Regardless of how his coach feels, however, Mankins asserts that he’s ready to play, and will be awaiting Belichick’s decision.
"I’ve been training quite a bit," the veteran guard told the media Wednesday. "We’ll see today how it goes, how good of shape I’m in. I’ve played football a long time now. I’ve been through a lot of off-seasons. I took this off-season like I take every other
one and did all the things I’ve been taught through the years."
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