Michael Bennett praises Bill Belichick for treating him like ‘human being’

The way Bill Belichick treats the media has led many to believe that he runs the New England Patriots like a heartless dictator, but Michael Bennett has quickly learned that is not the case.

Bennett made his official Patriots debut on Sunday after missing the first three days of training camp to tend to a family matter. While speaking with the media, the veteran defensive lineman went out of his way to heap praise on Belichick for his understanding.

“Coach Belichick – it’s nice when you have a coach that sees you as a human, sees you as a human being, not just a number, and you’re able to go talk to him, tell him what’s going on, and you’re able to go take care of it,” Bennett said, via Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston. “That just makes you want to play harder for a coach. When he believes in you, and lets you take care of your family first.”

Bennett added that it’s only natural to be concerned about how your boss might react when you have to handle personal matters at home, and Belichick was apparently more than accommodating.

“I think for me, that’s easy to look him in the eye and whatever he asks me to do, I’ll do it simply because I know he respects me as a human being and I respect that,” Bennett added.

If you remember, Bennett had no problem listing the reasons he used to hate the Patriots prior to being traded to New England. His opinion has changed in a hurry, and that is probably true of a lot of players who only knew Belichick through playing against him and/or seeing him on TV.