PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK: No looking back for Belichick

Head coach Bill Belichick refuses to delve into what led to his decision to bench cornerback Malcolm Butler in his team’s 41-33 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII.

FOXBORO – It may have been Bill Belichick’s first press conference of the 2018 NFL season, but already the Patriots head coach was in midseason form.

Evasive as ever, Belichick wasn’t bowing to the press coverage The Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessy attempted to apply in the media workroom at Gillette Stadium as the team’s veterans reported for the start of training camp on Wednesday.

The topic was cornerback Malcolm Butler’s still-unexplained benching in the team’s 41-33 loss to Philadelphia in Super Bowl LII.

Belichick’s explanation (that is, non-explanation) to a series of questions from Shaughnessy could be best summarized with his response: “I’m focused on doing the best that I can for the 2018 New England Patriots. That’s my job. That’s what I’m going to do. That’s what I've always done in the past.

“Every day that I’ve coached here, I’ve done the best that I could for this football team. I’ll continue to do that, and right now my focus is on the 2018 season. Not 2017, not 2014, not 2007, not 2004, not 2001, not 2000. I’m not focused on any of those seasons. They’re done.”

Similarly, Belichick would not delve into a Sports Illustrated report that he’d texted Jimmy Garoppolo to congratulate him after each of the former Patriots backup quarterback’s five wins after he was traded to San Francisco last year.

“I’m not going to engage in stuff that’s happened eight months ago,” said Belichick. “We can talk about a million things that happened 20 years ago. I’m not there.”

Funding for Brockton schools: Always active in the community, safety Devin McCourty spoke about one of the endeavors he is involved in off the field.

“I think one of the things we’re talking about now is trying the different recommendations of the funding for schools throughout Massachusetts,” he said. “There’s some areas that are poverty stricken that need more funds that don’t get it.

“Obviously, Massachusetts has one of the best public school systems in the country, but there are schools like in Brockton where kids are struggling because they just need more funding. So, trying to change that, there’s a bill that passed through (the) Senate so trying to get it passed in the House now, myself, ‘Slate’ (special teamer Matthew Slater) and Jason (McCourty’s twin brother, a cornerback with the team) wrote an op-ed on that posted (Tuesday on the Player Coalition) so that’s one thing that we’re kind of focusing on now, but still balanced now that we’re in training camp.”

Line of the day: The line of the day came from an offensive lineman.

Asked about Trent Brown, the 6-foot-8, 380-pound offensive tackle his team acquired in an offseason deal with the 49ers, center David Andrews said: “He is a big guy, but there’s been a lot of big guys in this league I’ve come across, especially in college, too. He’s a massive guy and I wouldn’t have wanted to feed him as a child, that’s for sure.”

Tough to tackle: Slater on kickoff returner (and wide receiver) Cordarrelle Patterson, the Patriots’ offseason pickup from Oakland: “He runs through a lot of arm tackles. I can attest to that personally.”

Mitchell’s future murky: Just a year-and-a-half or so ago, wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell’s future in New England looked bright.

Now, it’s murky at best.

“I can’t really do that now, no,” Belichick answered when asked where Mitchell is physically. “That’s part of where we are on these first few days of training camp – physicals, conditioning run and so forth, and that’s really for every player.”

NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero was first to report on Monday that the Patriots were looking to trade Mitchell, the team’s fourth-round selection in the 2016 draft. Multiple media outlets subsequently reported that the Georgia product underwent a medical procedure on his knee that day.

“There are a lot of guys in different stages from postseason surgeries, from offseason injuries and so forth and we’ll just have to see where everybody is,” said Belichick. “The first couple days of practice (Thursday and Friday) are not padded and padded practices start on Saturday so we’re in a couple different stages of training camp here. So we’ll just have to see how all that goes. But I’d say it’s no different than what it normally is with – call it, I don’t know – 10-to-15 players that fall somewhere in that overall net of conversation.”

Asked if the team was indeed looking to move Mitchell, Belichick said: “I’m not really going to get engaged in media speculation.”

Mitchell, who had a history of knee injuries in college, caught 32 passes for 401 yards and four touchdowns in 14 regular-season games in 2016 and capped off his rookie year by making a major impact in the Patriots’ historic 34-28 overtime win over Atlanta in Super Bowl LI, catching six passes for 70 yards.