Former Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch responds to Cassius Marsh’s harsh comments about playing in New England

The “Patriot Way” is no stranger to criticism. Even though New England has racked up titles over the previous two decades, Bill Belichick’s militaristic coaching style and the pragmatic culture he developed at Foxborough have come under their fair share of criticism, especially from the players who opposed this approach. The latest example comes from current Steelers linebacker Cassius Marsh, who played in New England for nine games in 2017. While praising the team’s work ethic, Marsh also noted on the Tom Segura’s 2 Bears, 1 Cave podcast that they “treat gamers like crap.”

Understandably, Marsh’s comments about the New England system have garnered a lot of attention, including from former Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch. Super Bowl MVP XXXIX played a total of seven seasons at Foxborough and came to his former team’s defense, while also acknowledging that it’s a tough place to play.

“New England isn’t for all gamers,” Branch said during an appearance on NBC Sports Boston’s “Early Edition”. “New England isn’t where you want to go and think you’re just going to play first and do your job later. No, you work first and then we play. As far as the game in New England goes, I do not agree with him on that. I have never had a situation where I felt or one of my former teammates felt like they were. to have been mistreated. “

This isn’t the first time Marsh has criticized the Patriots. In 2018, he also underscored his disdain by saying “there is nothing fun” about playing in New England. These earlier comments from Marsh were recently referenced by current Giants head coach Joe Judge, who was with the Patriots during this time as special teams coordinator. The judge appeared in an episode of The Ringer’s Flying Coach podcast which was released on Wednesday and he recalled a story about how Julian Edelman responded to these remarks internally.

“When we got out of this whole deal in 2017 where it was like… ‘It’s not fun, it’s this, it’s that’… there was a white grease board on the wall (at the Gillette Stadium), and it was empty “, judge the judge. told Sean McVay and Peter Schrager, who host the podcast. “He walked in and wrote in the middle of the board: ‘Winning is fun.’ And that was something that everyone read when they walked in every day.… He kind of got the message across to the whole team, “Hey guys, do you want to have some fun? Winning is fun. We are doing everything we can to win here. “”

Of course, winning is the name of the game in the NFL. If that means limiting the amount of nonsense throughout the week, it’s a necessary price to pay. That said, this type of culture probably only works if the other end of the market is respected: winning. After a 7-9 season in which the Patriots missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008 last year, Bill Belichick will likely have to go back to his ways of winning in order for his players to truly embrace his culture.