Brad Childress and Bill Belichick had never exactly been friends, and the Vikings coach didn't waste much time in sparking up some more animosity on Monday, calling the Patriots "some of the all-time great signal stealers."
The dig in reference to a 2006 Monday Night Football game, in which the Patriots rolled, 31-7. Childress described it as "a surgical procedure."
"That's back when we used to signal and things like that. I remember having a conversation with [ex-Minnesota defensive coordinator] Mike Tomlin about [the fact that] these were some of the all-time great signal stealers. In fact, that's what was going on - they were holding, holding, holding, holding. We were signaling from the sideline. And they were good at it. It's like stealing signals from a catcher."
On Tuesday, Belichick responded in typical Belichick fashion, saying, "Right now, we're just trying to focus on the Vikings, to go and get ready to play them. Not really worried about any other games that have happened in the past or any ones that are coming up on the schedule."
Tom Brady was also asked about Childress' comments, during his Tuesday morning radio appearance.
"We've been called a lot worse than that. (laughing) That's come and gone. That' s been not a part of football here for a long time, and we've still won a lot of games. In ‘ 07, they changed the rule and so forth. I don't buy a whole lot into that. The team that's going to win this weekend is the team that plays better. I promise you that."
Childress said on Wednesday that he "didn't mean any offense," and that "I said what I said and that's in the past."