Malcolm Butler Comments Briefly On Collins Trade, While Others Stay Silent

By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots locker room (and apparently the coaching staff) was blindsided by Monday's news that Bill Belichick had traded All-Pro linebacker Jamie Collins to the Cleveland Browns for a conditional draft pick. Naturally, as the Patriots returned to practice during their bye week, most of the questions from reporters would concern the shocking trade.

Except that, in typical Belichickian Patriots fashion, no players wanted to speak candidly on the matter - except cornerback Malcolm Butler.

While No. 21 still wouldn't speak in too great of detail on the trade or its effects on the Patriots defense and the locker room, he said more than anyone else did when asked about how he reacted to the trade.

"I was just shocked, that's all," said Butler. "Just shocked."

When asked about what he'd miss about Collins as a teammate, Butler said, "Everything. I'm going to miss everything, but I'm not trying to make this ... what you all are making it. He's not here anymore. Next man up. Just have to keep moving forward."

That was the closest anyone in the locker room would come to elaborating on the trade or its effects on themselves or the team, although they did acknowledge that the defense could play better than it has so far in 2016.

Veteran Rob Ninkovich, who has been with the team since 2009 when Belichick traded Richard Seymour shortly before the start of the season, gave a fairly detailed non-answer:

"When you lose a teammate, it's definitely different and it's a change that could catch you off guard. But like I said, we've still got a lot of games left to go and play, and you can't let what you can't control affect how you play. For me, it's just really to continue to focus on myself and get better. There's a lot of room for improvement and I'm focused on getting through this bye week here and preparing to play better in the next eight games that I'll have to play in."

Defensive end Jabaal Sheard wanted nothing to do with it.

"Trades are obviously upstairs and that's business. ... It's all football, and we leave those decisions to the coach."

Even rookie Elandon Roberts, who is the most likely candidate to replace Collins in many of the roles he played on the defense, had little to say on the subject.

"That's a Bill question. You'll have to ask Belichick. That's all I can really comment on that."

Chris Long probably had the most clever deflection of them all, as he dressed up as "Julian Edelman" and fielded questions posing as the receiver.

Obviously, it's far from all bad for the 7-1 Patriots, who remain the favorites to win Super Bowl 51 - even without Collins. But it's still a shocking and unexpected move, especially when it more resembled a mid-season cut than a trade for a valuable asset. For whatever reason, Belichick wanted Collins out of Gillette Stadium entirely.

The players in the locker room took many questions about whether the move was designed to grab the attention of the roster. Whether or not that was the intent, it certainly did. If the defense didn't know they needed to be better before, they certainly do now.

Just don't ask them about Jamie.

Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.