“No way that’s happening,” Former Patriots Coach laughs off the possibility of Bill Belichick making an exception for DeAndre Hopkins from attending practice

It is said that practice makes one perfect, however, in the world of sports, there have been some anomalies, some freak athletes who despise the word practice yet show up and be clutch for their team when needed. Of course, the first person who comes to mind is Allen Iverson, remember the infamous “We’re talking about practice…” interview? In the NFL, DeAndre Hopkins is that dude.

DHop is not the biggest fan of practice. The five-time Pro Bowl wideout just shows up every weekend and casually drops cornerbacks like they’re nothing but drill cones. However, now that DeAndre Hopkins is likely to be the newest member of the New England Patriots franchise, he may need to wrap his head around showing up to practice regularly. Head Coach Bill Belichick is known to run a tight ship and when a legend like Tom Brady got no special exemptions or treatment, there is no way that Hopkins can or should expect any special treatment.

As per former New England Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia, who has worked closely with Bill Belichick for nearly two decades, Hopkins and the team have already resolved this issue. The former coach opines that Bill ought to have addressed this issue when the wideout worked out in front of him on Thursday. NFL Insider Albert Breer stated that the duo shared a lot of “one-on-one” time together and things went really well.

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DeAndre Hopkins will need to get used to attending practice regularly

Dante believes that Bill Belichick would have made it a priority to understand DeAndre Hopkins’ work ethic and this would include making sure that the wideout shows up to practice. If this was questionable, then there is no way that Belichick would even be willing to consider the thought of bringing the wideout on board.

“He would never take that on, and not broach that subject. There’s no way that’s happening. If you’re not on the same page, it’s just not going to work out. He’s not getting what he expects from you, and you’re not getting what you expect from him. That never works out,” Scarnecchia stated. When it comes to practice, one cannot expect Bill Belichick to make any exceptions, he may overlook the occasional absence but if you were to tell him that you intend to show up only 3 out of 5 days a week for practice, he is not going to be fine with that.

“I do know in a perfect world, Bill would probably prefer that the guy goes out there and practices every day. If a guy only wants to practice once a week, and if you’re willing to take that on, you” take it on. It’s not the best situation in the world. I think we all believe guys need to be out there with their teammates, doing everything they can make the team better. If a guy is unwilling to practice, because it’s too much of a load for whatever the problems are, you modify things, and get through it,” Scarnecchia concluded.

On the possibility of a compromise between the two, the former coach believes that there is a chance that Belichick may have agreed to meet in the middle. “I think there could be room for compromise, and as I said, that’s something that has to be discussed now, rather than later. It has to be done and agreed to where everyone is on the same page. Because if you don’t want to take it on, then, ‘Oh God, here it comes.’ All of a sudden during training camp, you’re trying to deal with that. That’s never any good.”

How many times in the past has Bill Belichick exempted players from being regular to practice? In Scarnecchia’s memory, not even once. “Whatever it is, it is. Whether you think it’s good, or I think it’s good, or bad, or whatever, it’s not going to make any difference. They both agreed on it. And that’s what’s going to happen.” The former coach believes that assuming DeAndre Hopkins opts to sign with the Patriots, things will work out just fine.

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