Aaron Dobson Reportedly Benched After He 'Mouthed Off' to Coach Josh McDaniels

Updates from Friday, Oct. 3

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick released a full statement on the alleged incident on the Patriots' official website:

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"In my year and a half with Aaron Dobson, he has always been respectful to me and to the rest of the coaching staff. He has never once been argumentative or confrontational. The suggestion and reporting that his playing time was in any way the result of a ‘loud disagreement’ with a coach is completely false."

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Aaron Dobson also denied the reports of an incident:

NESN's Doug Kyed had more from Dobson:

NESN's Phil Perry had more as well:

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"Nothing happened," Dobson said. "The statement was false. I think coach already addressed it as well. I'm just trying to focus on Cincinnati now."

When asked if he knew how a report like that might have originated, Dobson replied: "I have no idea how it happened, but it was just a rumor. I really wasn't worried about it. I guess it got real big, but coach killed it so I'm not really worried about it now."

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Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald reported on Belichick's comments on Dobson's benching:

Mike Petraglia of WEEI added more:

Original Text

Shalise Manza Young of The Boston Globe revealed the possible reason behind Aaron Dobson's absence from the New England Patriots' last two games.

The second-year wide receiver reportedly "mouthed off" to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels:

Manza Young added more insight into the Patriots' feelings towards Dobson:

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There are concerns that Dobson, a second-round pick out of Marshall last year, is immature, though he isn’t the first NFL player with maturity issues.

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The Patriots have a big game ahead on Sunday against the unbeaten Cincinnati Bengals, who've had an extra week to prepare.