Schefter on D&C: Thomas may sit

ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter made his weekly appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show Friday morning and talked about the Patriots' discipline issue from this week, when coach Bill Belichick sent four players home for arriving late to a team meeting Wednesday. Schefter said that the players showed bad timing in showing up late three days after Belichick challenged the team to show a new level of commitment.

Said Schefter: "Apparently, coach Belichick delivered a rather stern and forceful message to them in the postgame locker room [Sunday]. He told them, 'Look, we've lost four games on the very last possession' — four games — and they're still in first place by a game, and there's a quarter of the season left. 'This is the time to basically buckle down, zero in, focus in on everything that we've got to do get done here down the stretch.' And then what happens is on Wednesday there's the snowstorm and the four guys are late. Now, I'm going to guess that that was probably not an easy decision for Belichick to make. But again, the message was delivered on Sunday about how important the week ahead was, on how important the stretch run was. On the first day that these guys are required to be back there, to begin installation of a game plan for the Carolina Panthers, you've got four guys late? That, in a way, is guys not fighting to do the right thing."

Schefter predicted that Adalius Thomas, the only one of the four punished players who was outspoken Thursday in the locker room, could find himself out of action Sunday. "He's been a healthy scratch before, so why wouldn't it happen again?" Schefter said. "Has he been that much of a difference-maker on the field this season?"

To hear the interview, click on the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page.