Dallas Cowboys DE Michael Bennett left New England with an appreciation for Belichick
Dallas Cowboys defensive end Michael Bennett says there is no added motivation heading into Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots, despite his brief history there.
Remember, he is only in Dallas because he was traded from the Patriots during the bye week, ending a 225-day stint in New England following a trade from the Philadelphia Eagles that. His stay in New England included five games, a week suspension for yelling at the defensive line coach Brett Bielema and diminished playing time.
Yet, Bennett doesn’t harbor any bad feelings.
“It’s never personal in the NFL, it’s always business,” Bennett said softly but with conviction.
And while he has been productive with the Cowboys, recording three sacks, seven quarterback hits and eight tackles in three games as a backup defensive end and nickel defensive tackle, there is no motivation to prove anything to the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick for the 11-year veteran.
“Every single time I go out there, it’s not really about me,” he said. “It’s really about the guys I line up next to. There’s a lot of great players in this defense, and you want to just be a great teammate to them, try to do the best you can and stick to the game plan and try to execute at a high level, not for yourself but for your teammates.”
Bennett has been a great teammate in Dallas, giving the Cowboys the production they expected, a fact not lost on Belichick or Cowboys coach Jason Garrett.
“We just felt like bringing a guy like Michael Bennett could really help us,” coach Jason Garrett said. “And there’s no question that it has. I think he’s interacted really well and transitioned really well. A lot of our guys knew him already. We were around him at the Pro Bowl. Very familiar. He’s jumped right in and trying to understand how we coach and how we want him to do things. Embraced that fully. I think he’s made a really positive impact on our team. He’s a very well-respected guy.”
Belichick said the scheme in New England was simply not a good fit for Bennett because of the Patriots’ preference for more linebackers and fewer down linemen.
Still, Bennett finished with four tackles and 2.5 sacks in the 130 of 374 snaps he played with New England.
“I think he’s probably given the Cowboys what they wanted from him, some inside pass-rush production on third down in passing situations,” Belichick said. “He’s done that throughout his career.”
Bennett refuses to speculate why it didn’t work out with the Patriots.
“I’m not the coach,” he said.
But he came to Dallas with a renewed understanding of the game and an increased appreciation for Belichick, who he called a football savant.
“At the end of the day, I just think Bill is a great motivator. I think he understands football from the beginning,” Bennett said. “He’s a historian when it comes to football, plays. He can remember anything when it comes to it. He’s just a savant. I think he just knows how to put people in great positions to make plays.”
Bennett didn’t stop there with his praise for Belichick and the Patriots.
“I learned a lot of football in New England,” Bennett said. “As a player, you go into the situation, and you think you know football. Then, you meet somebody who’s above you and knows everything about the game. For me, I learned a lot about football in that situation, learning how to execute at a high level, learning what it takes to develop players. I learned what it feels like to break down a game plan from a different perspective, and I think it was good for me as a player. If I ever want to be a coach, it would be a good situation to take into that.”
Bennett, however, is happy to be with the Cowboys.
He already had a relationship with secondary coach Kris Richard from their time together in Seattle.
“There are a lot of great leaders on this team,” he said. “There’s a lot of great rapport with the guys. I’ve been knowing Kris Richard for a long, long time, and I think we speak the same language when it comes to football. So it’s a lot easier to come in and play for this team.”
He jelled so quickly with the defensive unit that he was asked to give the pregame speech before Sunday’s 35-27 victory against the Detroit Lions.
“I think it’s always hard when you’re on a new team and you’re trying to jell with new players,” Bennett said. “At the same time, I think we’ve been through a lot of adversity already within the team, the Minnesota game coming down to the last minute. The Giants game. At this point, I think we’re just jelling as a team. We’ve got a lot of growth. It’s a lot of football that’s being played in September and October but I think November and December are kind of where champions are made. It’s really about what you do in December and January.”
Bennett was added to replace the injured Tyrone Crawford on the defensive line. His experience as a Super Bowl champion and Super Bowl runner-up in Seattle could pay the biggest dividends for a young Cowboys team trying to learn how to win down the stretch.
“I think it’s just a lot of young people who are hungry and they just want to prove themselves as a group of players and I think they’ve played a lot of games together, and they’re just trying to prove they can win the big games,” Bennett said. “I think there are a lot of times where it’s just like ‘uh’. Now, they’re trying to get over that hump and be consistent. When you have a young team, it’s about consistency and discipline. That’s what we’re trying to focus on.”
This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 11:24 AM.
