If you watched Sunday’s game between the Vikings and Patriots you undoubtedly saw a heated exchange between Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
It happened midway through the fourth quarter after a close fourth-and-one running play. Belichick was struggling to find which sock he’d stored his red challenge flag in, but an injury to cornerback Patrick Chung gave him extra time to find it rather than allow the Vikings to hurry to the line and snap the ball.
The officials didn’t overturn the call but Thielen still thought it was a cheap move and questioned whether Chung was actually hurt.
“I just thought the play was cheap,” Thielen said. “I let my emotions get the best of me, because it’s a smart football play. If you are in that situation, why not? It’s not cheating, because there’s no rule against it from a guy going down. I don’t know if he was hurt or not. He might have been hurt. That’s fine. It is what it is. Just interesting timing for a guy to go down when it’s a close play.”
Thielen added that he as a lot of respect for Belichick, but also said he doesn’t care what the Patriots coach thinks of him.
“He can think what he wants to think about me and it doesn’t really change how I’m going to go play the game. He can hate me all he wants and I’m still going to be the same person I am,” said Thielen.
So what did Belichick and Thielen say to each other on the field?
According to the New York Post, who apparently employs a lip reader, Thielen said “that’s bulls—” and Belichick responded with “shut the f— up.”
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