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Come Fan with UsThursday, July 2, 2026

Bill Belichick Explains Ref Incident: ‘I Did Try To Get Official’s Attention’

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick attempted to explain his point of view in regards to the controversial ending of Sunday night's game against the Baltimore Ravens.

After Baltimore place kicker Justin Tucker kicked the game-winning field goal, the quality of the call came into question and Belichick was seen grabbing the arm of line judge Esteban Garza as everyone was leaving the field. On Monday afternoon, the Patriots head coach explained that he was merely trying to gain the official's attention to see if the play was going to be reviewed.

After attempting and failing to gain his attention, Belichick grabbed Garza so he could speak with him about the call. He says he didn’t mean to offend or disrespect the official with his actions, via The Boston Herald:

“I’ve coached in this league a long time and never been penalized, never had any incidents with officials or anything like that. I have never meant any disrespect or in any way tried to abuse or be disrespectful to the officials and the job that they do. I’m trying to get an explanation for obviously an important call [...] in that game.”

For more on the Patriots and Bill Belichick, please be sure to check out our blog Pats Pulpit, SB Nation Boston, our Football Hub and SB Nation for all the latest news and updates.

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