The sad tale that is Terry Glenn's career took another turn for the worse Thursday when New England Head Coach Bill Belichick announced a one-game suspension of the wide receiver.
Terming the move as a disciplinary measure for an unspecified incident that occurred Wednesday, Belichick said the decision had nothing to do with Glenn's hamstring injury that has sidelines him for six games. He added that a television appearance earlier this week during which Glenn indicated to WBZ-TV's Bob Lobel that his hamstring could be healed if his signing bonus was not being withheld by the team also was not related to the decision.
"This is not an injury matter," Belichick said. "It's about something that happened yesterday. We've been down this road before, and I'm not going to comment on the specifics of team discipline. I don't think it's right to do that. It'll be handled internally, and it has been."
With the suspension Glenn will not be allowed on the premises of the stadium until next Monday. He will not be a part of team meetings or functions. Asked whether he expected Glenn to return Monday, Belichick said that question could only be answered by the player himself.
Last season Belichick kicked Tony Simmons out of practice and suspended him from practice. Simmons' locker was cleaned out, but he was still in on team meetings and later did return to the team for practices. Glenn, who was told of the suspension by Belichick Thursday morning, had his locker completely emptied to the point where the nameplate above his locker was even removed.
Still, Belichick still would not close the door completely on Glenn's future.
"I'm not trying to make any determination on the future right now," Belichick said. "I'm dealing with the situation as it is; that's the way I've dealt with it all year. I said in training camp that I hoped we could resolve this, and that I wanted to work to resolve it in training camp. I still feel that way, but based on what happened, this is what I have to do."
Glenn's teammates didn't have much of a reaction to the situation.
"Whatever," Bryan Cox said. "Whatever, that's my response. As is, we are ready to go to work. The guys who are here are ready to play, and we are going to put our best foot forward. If a guy is not here, we can't do anything about it."
Fellow wide receiver Troy Brown would like to see Glenn's situation be resolved, but the team can't count on that happening.
"I want to see him succeed, and I want to see the guy do well," Brown said. "I want to see all of this stuff settled, but it is out of my hands. I have nothing to do with it. It's between him and the organization, and I have no control over what happens between them. I wish he'd come back and play, but it's out of my hands and I have no control over it."
