Chiefs’ Mike Pennel implies Patriots lacked ‘transparency’ during his New England tenure
"I’m just glad to be somewhere with a lot more transparency.”
Chiefs defensive lineman Mike Pennel wasn’t supposed to play a key role for one of the Patriots’ top rivals before the season began.
The veteran defensive lineman signed a two-year deal with New England last March, leaving the Jets after a two-year tenure, and was expected to play a key role on the defensive line this season.
But things changed pretty quickly and Pennel was cut by the Patriots before the preseason ended.
At Super Bowl Opening Night on Monday, Pennel opened up about his tenure in New England and implied the Patriots lacked “transparency.”
“I’ll definitely keep the particulars of that to myself,” Pennel said according to NESN’s Zach Cox. “But it was just with how the preseason was going and everything like that, me being a veteran, I kind of knew what was going on with the (decreased) reps and everything like that. I didn’t really understand what was going on and didn’t really get any answers. So after that point, it was a little bit of confusion, a little bit of relief when I got cut. But I’m just glad to be somewhere with a lot more transparency.”
While Pennel said he would keep the particulars to himself, he did single out Patriots defensive line coach Bret Bielema.
“(There was a) disconnection between something I was doing with the defensive line coach,” Pennel said of Bielema.
As mentioned by Cox, Pennel isn’t the only player that had an issue with Bielema this season. Michael Bennett was suspended for one game by the Patriots after an argument he had with Bielema before he was traded to the Cowboys in October.
Pennel, who signed with the Chiefs in October, said he was happy with his new home in Kansas City and said the Chiefs’ coaching staff was able to “talk through techniques” with him, something he said he couldn’t do in New England.
“It’s different when you go up to your coach and talk life and not just football,” Pennel said. “It’s different when you can have a different technique or be able to talk through techniques with your coach. Some places you can do that; some places you can’t. New England wasn’t the place to do that.”
The Patriots certainly could have used Pennel on the defensive line this season. Pennel was a part of the Chiefs’ defensive line that held Titans running back Derrick Henry to 69 rushing yards on 19 carries and had four tackles in the team’s AFC Championship Game win. For comparison, Henry rushed for 182 yards on 34 carries in the Patriots’ playoff loss to the Titans.
As for Bielema, he has joined former Patriots assistant Joe Judge’s coaching staff with the Giants as their Outside Linebackers Coach and Senior Assistant.
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