The Aaron Dobson situation in New England is becoming curiouser and curiouser.
On Thursday, The Boston Globe's Shalise Manza Young reported that the receiver was inactive the past two weeks because he "mouthed off" to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
On Friday, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Dobson was deactivated for football reasons.
For clarity purposes, let's just give you the entire back-and-forth as transcribed by the NFL Media news desk:
On if the decision was football- or disciplinary-related:
"Football."
On if Dobson has progressed enough to put him back in the lineup:
"We'll do what we think is best for the game, just like we always do."
With thin receiving corps, how important is it for to get Dobson back in the lineup:
"Well, we're going to make the best decisions that we can make very week, try to activate the players that we think give us the best chance to win. Same thing we do on every game. This game's no different than that. So that's what we do."
On if it was hard with only four receivers last week:
"Well, I think we have a lot of skill players in the passing game. Tight ends, backs, receivers, so..."
On if there was an altercation between Dobson and McDaniels:
"You know, no, and I'll have a comment on that later."
What sort of comment that will be we have no idea. It could be an update on the injury report on Dobson's foot injury that he dealt with all offseason. Or it could be one final "We're on to Cincinnati" for comedy's sake. Either way this story isn't over.
UPDATE: The Patriots released a statement on behalf of Belichick on Friday afternoon:
"In my year and a half with Aaron Dobson, he has always been respectful to me and to the rest of the coaching staff," the statement read. "He has never once been argumentative or confrontational. The suggestion and reporting that his playing time was in any way the result of a 'loud disagreement' with a coach is completely false.
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