What Bill Belichick said in the locker room after the Patriots defeated the Bills
"AFC East champs! Congratulations!”
After the Patriots defeated the Bills on Saturday, 24-17, to win an 11th straight AFC East division title, cheers erupted in the team’s locker room at Gillette Stadium.
Players donned white baseball caps with the word “Champions” stitched across, and some, including cornerback Stephon Gilmore, wore “The East is Not Enough” T-shirts.
Head coach Bill Belichick was rocking one of those hats while he praised his team for the win.
“That’s the way to compete, fellas. That is the way to compete,” Belichick said. “It wasn’t perfect, but you guys competed your ass off and that was the difference. Alright so look, this is very simple now, OK: This was a playoff game. Miami is a playoff game. If we beat Miami, then we get a bye. If we don’t, then we’ll be playing the next week. So it’s a playoff game. So we’ve got to be ready to go here. We need our best week. Keep building on what we’ve been building on here, alright, keep this thing rolling.”
How do we feel about being 2019 AFC East CHAMPS?
Awww yeah. pic.twitter.com/U90CbcgMRy
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) December 23, 2019
Some players nodded as Belichick continued.
“Fellas, that was a damn good job today, but this is playoff,” he said. “I saw some guys step up today. We need everybody. Let’s enjoy this one. Let’s relax a little bit here and come back ready to go. This is a big week, and we’re in the playoffs. We are in the playoffs now.”
With that, Belichick lifted his cap into the air and celebrated the win.
“AFC East champs! Congratulations!”
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