Former Patriots DE says ‘nothing fun’ about playing for New England

The culture of the New England Patriots is not for everyone.

Defensive end Cassius Marsh, now with the San Francisco 49ers, was one of those who found it disagreeable. Marsh felt that he was misused as a coverage linebacker, adding that playing there was enough to make him doubt his desire to play football.

“They asked me to do a bunch of stuff that I had never done: covering running backs and receivers and basically almost never rushing the passer, which is what I did in playing defensive line,” Marsh said, via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. “They don’t have fun there. There’s nothing fun about it. There’s nothing happy about it. I didn’t enjoy any of my time there, you know what I’m saying? It made me for the first time in my life think about not playing football because I hated it that much.”

Marsh played nine games with the Patriots in 2017, but was waived in November after confronting Bill Belichick following a game in which he played just two snaps against the Oakland Raiders.

“I confronted (Belichick) about all the things that were going on,” Marsh said. “I won’t get into detail, but it was B.S. things they were doing. I just wasn’t a fan. And so I, basically, without asking to get cut, I kind of asked to get cut. … I had confidence that I would have an opportunity elsewhere and I would take advantage of it.”

It sounds like Marsh may think this NFL player’s assessment of the Patriots’ culture is a correct one. Belichick and the Patriots have high expectations and a certain way of doing things. Sometimes, players just don’t fit in.