AP photo Michael Bennett's problems with the Patriots have increased with a one-game suspension issued by the team.

The curious Michael Bennett story with the New England Patriots took a sudden wrong turn in the last couple of days.

Eyebrows were raised Tuesday when defensive end Bennett, who has been seeing a rapid reduction in playing time, was not at practice. Later Tuesday it was revealed he has been suspended by the team for one week after reportedly a clash with Patriots defensive line coach Bret Bielema last Friday, the day after the Patriots had beaten the Giants 35-14.

Bennett, signed by the Patriots as a free agent in the off-season to help make up for the free agent loss of pass rusher Trey Flowers, issued a statement of apology to ESPN on the matter:

“On Friday, I had a philosophical disagreement with my position coach that has led to my suspension,”Bennett said. “I apologize to my teammates for any distraction this may have caused.”

Bennett played in 55 percent of the snaps in the team’s season opening win over Pittsburgh. However, in last Thursday’s win over the Giants, he played in just 11 snaps, or 22 percent of the plays, apparently due to the Patriots’ heavy use of a 3-4 alignement, which he doesn’t fit nearly as well as in a 4-3. The week before he played in just 14 snaps vs. Washington.

The Patriots are off on Wednesday, thus there won’t be a chance until Thursday for media to ask Patriots coach Bill Belichick about the matter. He is scheduled to address the media that morning at 11:45.

Belichick spoke favorably of Bennett last week and glossed over his decreased playing time.

“Michael’s a smart player, he’s got a lot of experience,” Belichick said last Tuesday. “He’s been in different systems, so he’s trying to adapt into our system, but we’ve also talked ot hi about some of the things that he;s done and he obviously has a lot of experience and a lot of input. Not just as an individual player but also schematically.

“So, he’s been good. He’s really tried hard and worked hard to embrace what we’ve asked him to do, which again, is quite different than what he’s done in Seattle and Philly, even in Tampa.”

When asked about his snap count being down last week, Belichick said, “Yeah, well, he’s on our team. I don’t really care what happened on some other team. I don’t really know that was or wasn’t. We’ll try to do what’s best for our team, and that’s everybody. It’s him, that’s everybody else. I mean, Devin McCourty’s snap count is down, too.”

Bennett didn’t record a single defensive stat vs. the Giants. For the season he has five tackles (four solo), and 2.5 sacks.

Bennett was brought in for sacks. The three-time Pro Bowler had nine sacks with the Eagles last year and a career high 10 with Seattle in 2015.

The curious Michael Bennett story with the New England Patriots took a sudden wrong turn in the last couple of days.

Eyebrows were raised Tuesday when defensive end Bennett, who has been seeing a rapid reduction in playing time, was not at practice. Later Tuesday it was revealed he has been suspended by the team for one week after reportedly a clash with Patriots defensive line coach Bret Bielema last Friday, the day after the Patriots had beaten the Giants 35-14.

Bennett, signed by the Patriots as a free agent in the off-season to help make up for the free agent loss of pass rusher Trey Flowers, issued a statement of apology to ESPN on the matter:

“On Friday, I had a philosophical disagreement with my position coach that has led to my suspension,”Bennett said. “I apologize to my teammates for any distraction this may have caused.”

Bennett played in 55 percent of the snaps in the team’s season opening win over Pittsburgh. However, in last Thursday’s win over the Giants, he played in just 11 snaps, or 22 percent of the plays, apparently due to the Patriots’ heavy use of a 3-4 alignement, which he doesn’t fit nearly as well as in a 4-3. The week before he played in just 14 snaps vs. Washington.

The Patriots are off on Wednesday, thus there won’t be a chance until Thursday for media to ask Patriots coach Bill Belichick about the matter. He is scheduled to address the media that morning at 11:45.

Belichick spoke favorably of Bennett last week and glossed over his decreased playing time.

“Michael’s a smart player, he’s got a lot of experience,” Belichick said last Tuesday. “He’s been in different systems, so he’s trying to adapt into our system, but we’ve also talked ot hi about some of the things that he;s done and he obviously has a lot of experience and a lot of input. Not just as an individual player but also schematically.

“So, he’s been good. He’s really tried hard and worked hard to embrace what we’ve asked him to do, which again, is quite different than what he’s done in Seattle and Philly, even in Tampa.”

When asked about his snap count being down last week, Belichick said, “Yeah, well, he’s on our team. I don’t really care what happened on some other team. I don’t really know that was or wasn’t. We’ll try to do what’s best for our team, and that’s everybody. It’s him, that’s everybody else. I mean, Devin McCourty’s snap count is down, too.”

Bennett didn’t record a single defensive stat vs. the Giants. For the season he has five tackles (four solo), and 2.5 sacks.

Bennett was brought in for sacks. The three-time Pro Bowler had nine sacks with the Eagles last year and a career high 10 with Seattle in 2015.

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