While Bill Belichick denied that the benching of Malcolm Butler was for disciplinary reasons, Ian Rapoport reports there were a number of factors that led to the decision.

"One thing that Bill Belichick said this morning was that a lot goes into it," Rapoport said. "And yes, from what I understand, there are several factors that led Malcolm Butler, one of the team's top defensive players, to not be out on the field for the Super Bowl. Among those, he showed up a day later than teammates because he was sick. Remember, he was not at Opening Night. That was a factor. I'm also told that during practice this week he really struggled. Had a rough week of practice, perhaps because of illness, but maybe because of other things. That was one thing they had to consider in putting Eric Rowe out there instead of him.

"But I'm also told there were some other issues, disciplinary issues. There was a small or minor violation of team rules that happened earlier in the week that is one thing. And then there are some attitudes, frustrations as well. All of this combined to put Malcolm Butler not on the field with his teammates trying to win the Super Bowl, but on the sideline watching."