EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ -- New England's 49-19 win over the Jets Thursday night was a much bigger benchmark than win No. 8 of the 2012 season. The Thanksgiving victory also went in the books as the 200th of Bill Belichick's career.
He's just the eighth coach in NFL history to hit that mark.
"It's been a privilege and a great opportunity to coach the players that won those games," Belichick said at his post game press conference. "I never made a block, didn't make a tackle, didn't throw a pass, didn't kick a ball; the players won them. It's an honor to coach the group of players that go out there and make the plays to win those games and that's what happened today. The players went out there and made the plays and they deserved to win."
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Belichick's first job as a head coach came in 1991 for the Browns. He was in Cleveland until February of 1996. From there, he moved to New England as an assistant under Bill Parcells.
After a two year stint with the Jets, Belichick became Patriots bench boss in 2000.
"It's a privilege to coach this team for Mr. Robert Kraft, the Kraft family, the Patriots organization, and the players that are on it. It's nice, but it's really more of a reflection of what the players have done."
Quarterback Tom Brady, who has played under Belichick for the duration of his 13-year career, shared his thoughts on the milestone after the Jets game.
"There's no coach I'd ever want to play for than him. He's so consistent, and as a player, I think we really appreciate that. He's tough, he's disciplined, and that's what we need. That's the way our program is run. He expects us to play at a high level every week. He has high expectations in practice every day. That's what you look for in a coach -- someone that gets the best out of all the players that he coaches. He certainly does that."
Belichick and the Patriots will try for win No. 201 against Miami on December 2.