At the end of many New England Patriots losses, you can find Bill Belichick making a bee-line for the locker room following a split-second handshake with the opposing head coach.
After the Patriots' 27-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, however, Belichick took a detour.
Belichick sought out Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce for an extended handshake, at one point even pulling Kelce in close to say a few words after Kelce said, "Appreciate you coach" and pulled away slightly.
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While we don't know what Belichick thought was so important to tell Kelce, the Chiefs star was quick to pile praise on the longtime Patriots coach after their exchange.
"I've got all the respect in the world for that guy," Kelce said after the game, via Brendan McGair of the Pawtucket Times. "Every single time I go up against him -- it's the toughest job in the NFL, to go up against a Belichick defense. He throws so much at you.
"He always has a lot of guys that can play smart, so hats off to Belichick today for making my life tough, that's for damn sure. On top of that, he's getting a good group of guys to play well together. I've got a lot of respect for that team."
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The Patriots did limit Kelce to just five catches for 28 yards, his third-lowest output of the season. But that's still a very kind assessment of Belichick, whose team sits dead-last in the AFC at 3-11. In fact, it's looking increasingly likely that Belichick won't return to New England in 2024 after the team misses the postseason for the third time in four seasons.
Even if Belichick is done in Foxboro after this season, though, Kelce believes he hasn't seen the last of the 71-year-old on an NFL sideline.
"The fact that you just said that, it's wild to even think about," Kelce said when asked about the possibility that he just played his last game at Gillette Stadium. "But I've got a feeling that guy still has some football left in him."
So, was Belichick revealing his next coaching destination to Kelce at midfield? We doubt it. But there's clearly mutual respect between the legendary head coach and All-Pro tight end, despite Belichick's recent struggles.