Bill Belichick may have thought he was praising George Kittle, but in doing so, he upset a lot of people.
“Kittle is a great player,” Belichick said, via ESPN.com. “He does everything well. I’d put him right at the top of the league there, period. His ability to run, catch, get open, after the catch, block, he does everything at a high level. He’s as good as anybody that I’ve coached or as good as anybody that we’ve played against.”
That’s extremely high praise from Belichick, who has coached a number of legendary tight ends over the course of his career. That includes Rob Gronkowski, who is widely looked at as the best tight end of his generation and arguably of all-time.
Former Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich is reading between the lines and doesn’t like what he’s hearing from Bill Belichick.
“I don’t get why he is doing that,” Ninkovich told WEEI on Thursday. “It seems like a little shot. It seems like a little jab … I just think it may be a slight little jab there, which seems a little unnecessary. But, Kittle is good. You can’t argue with the fact that Kittle is the best tight end in the game right now. I personally think he is. He is better than [Travis] Kelce in the running game.
“He can block, he’s tough. He has a little bit of craziness to him where if he’s going to get hit, he is going to jump up and scream a little bit. For me, I like him as the No. 1 tight end in the league right now. Best ever? It’s still Gronk to me.”
After a slow start in Tampa Bay — Gronk finally reminded people why he is considered an all-time great when he hauled in five catches for 78 yards and a touchdown in the Buccaneers’ 38-10 rout of the Packers on Sunday.
