Patriots' Bill Belichick Clarifies Comments About COVID-19 Vaccination

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick followed up on comments he made about how "a pretty high number" of players and staffers tested positive for COVID-19 despite being vaccinated.

Belichick told reporters Monday that receiving the COVID-19 vaccine is "an individual decision for each person to make":

"As a team, we're better off if everybody is vaccinated. That being said, even if everybody was vaccinated, that doesn't solve all of our problems, as we've seen multiple players, and head coaches and assistant coaches throughout the league test positive for COVID even after they have been vaccinated."

His initial statements came after the release of Cam Newton and whether Newton's vaccination status played a role in his departure. He denied that was the case with the three-time Pro Bowler or any other member of the roster.

Still, some took issue with his assertion about the NFL's breakthrough COVID-19 cases.

Chief Medical Officer Allen Sills said the league saw 68 positive cases from 7,190 total tests between Aug. 1-21. Vaccinated players had a positivity rate of 0.3 percent compared to 2.2 percent for unvaccinated players.