Bill Belichick: ‘We’re on to next year’

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick talks with the media after OTA Session at Gillette Stadium. The Boston Globe

By Chris Greenberg and video by Steve Silva

May 29, 2015

1 minute to read

The Patriots may have a new rallying cry: “We’re on to next year.’’

New England head coach Bill Belichick riffed on a familiar phrase from the team’s run to Super Bowl XLIX when faced with a question on Deflagate during organized team activities on Friday at Gillette Stadium.

“That’s a long time ago,’’ Belichick said when asked if the scandal took away any joy from winning the Super Bowl. “We’re on to next year. It’s 2015. You can forget about last year. That was last year.’’

Last year, Belichick famously repeated “we’re on to Cincinnati’’ while deflecting questions following a poor Patriots performance in a September loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The phrase became a go-to mantra for the team as it marched to its fourth Super Bowl victory of the Belichick-Brady era.

It remains to be seen if quarterback Tom Brady will participate in “next year’’ as soon as his teammates. The Patriots’ quarterback was suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season by the NFL for his role in Deflategate. He has appealed that punishment. Backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo shared time with Brady in full team drills Friday.

“Right now, we’re in 2015,’’ Belichick responded when asked if recent events could be a distraction for young players. “Nobody is looking back, nobody is looking ahead. We’re just coming out here trying to get better day by day.’’