Bill Belichick is keeping conversations with players private

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Bill Belichick held court with the local media last night ahead of the NFL's annual coaches breakfast this week and touched on a number of topics.

Among them were conversations with Rob Gronkowski about his potential retirement, and Tom Brady about supposed tension between the two of them. Belichick, of course, didn't offer much in that regard.

Belichick on Gronk, per ESPN:

"I'm not going to speak for anybody else," Belichick told a small group of local reporters. "So, conversations I've had with the players -- and I've had a lot of them -- I will keep those private between myself and the player. I respect those coach-to-player conversations. I don't want to speak for anybody else."

On Brady:

Said Belichick, "I've had direct conversations with Tom, many times, obviously, through a long period of time. I'll rely on those conversations that I have with him directly rather than something else. Tom and I have always had a good line of communication. We've always been able to talk directly to each other. I don't see that changing. So I'll rely on those instead of anything else."

That "something else" probably means Belichick is aware of what was said at the end of Tom vs. Time in which Brady said he wanted to "feel appreciated" when he goes to work. People may or may not have taken that quote out of context, but given that Belichick and Brady seem to communicate frequently, it's likely that was talked about.

As far as Gronk goes, I don't think anyone has any idea what he's doing.

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