Trent Brown: Patriots coaches came up with ways to ‘f–k with me’ during nightmare season

New England Patriots veteran tackle Trent Brown accused some of his coaches of “f–king with me” during a “tough” season, which ended in a two year playoff drought. In an interview with NESN.com that was published Tuesday, the 30 year old Brown addressed leaked reports containing “lies about my character,” claimed Patriots coaches would plot how to mess with him — and accused someone in Patriots’ building of “running a smear campaign” against him.

“Because I’ve even heard from coaches how they’ll sit in staff meetings and they’ll be talking about how they can f–k with me,” Brown said. “Like, I guess trying to get me out of character or whatever. “It’s really crazy to think that we’re spending time talking about that instead of getting better.” He did not name names, however.

Brown, who won Super Bowl LIII alongside Tom Brady with the Patriots in 2019, explained why this past season — where the team finished an abysmal 4 13 — was different than any other in his nine year NFL career. “It’s been a rough year,” he said. “This has been a year like no other that I’ve had in my NFL career as far as the amount of anonymous sources that have come forward to spew complete lies about my character.

“It’s been tough to even go in the building every day knowing that there’s somebody that I probably look at every day, or smiles in my face every day, that is running a smear campaign.” Brown was referring to the “bulls–t” false leaks in the press about his reported unwillingness to push through injuries.

The tackle was the subject of criticism after some noticed his lackluster performance when head coach Bill Belichick put him in an unusual rotation in the Patriots’ 26 23 win against the Broncos on Dec. 24. “To think that people are saying I was unwilling to fight through injuries due to future possible earnings… that’s crazy,” Brown said, recalling that he aggravated a previous ankle injury.

“I’ve always put the team first.” In Week 7 when he suffered MCL and high ankle sprains late in the Patriots’ 29 25 win over the Buffalo Bills on Oct. 22. “I’ve been sick pretty much the last month,” he said, adding that multiple illnesses, including the flu, strep throat and bronchitis, interfered with the latter half of his season.

NESN noted that Brown was coughing during their interview. Brown missed Sunday’s season finale, a 17 3 loss to the Jets, with an illness after he was a healthy scratch the week prior in a 27 21 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Last week, an in depth report by The Boston Herald said Belichick ruled out Brown as a healthy scratch for the road finale and that the left tackle “had his mind on free agency.” Brown will officially hit the free agent market in March.

The Herald also reported that “Brown openly discussed plans to play for an NFC team in the team locker room” following New England’s 21 18 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Dec. 7. Brown reportedly missed out on a $6.5 million playing time incentive with his absence against the Bills on Dec.

31. “It was never about [money],” Brown, who agreed to a revised one year deal with the Patriots in September, told NESN.com. “Of course, I want to be paid what I’m worth. But as far as incentives or whatever, it was never about that.” He emphasized that free agency was never his concern. Brown also denied the reported NFC team chatter, adding, “That never came out of my mouth.” Despite a rocky season, Brown explained that he would be open to re signing with New England, under a few conditions.

“I’m not opposed to it,” he said, adding that he doesn’t have any grudges against Belichick. “I think before that would take place, some things would need to be hashed out and understood. “There just needs to be more attention on signing and drafting good players,” he said. “And also understanding that Foxboro is not a vacation spot.

You’ve gotta spend some money to get good players, and you’ve gotta spend money to keep your good players in house. And once they’re in house, you’ve gotta treat them with some respect and common decency as a human being.” On Monday, Brown reportedly liked a social media post from ESPN’s “First Take” Instagram, which featured a quote from host Stephen A.

Smith that read: “I think it’s time for Bill Belichick to go.”.