Bill Belichick spoke to the media during his weekly Monday Presser, and here's what he had to say to reporters' persistent questions about Randy Moss.

Q: A couple of Carolina players accused Randy Moss of quitting yesterday. Do you agree with that assessment and how do you respond to that?
BB: My response would be that’s a lot of conversation coming from a team that just lost another game.

Q: To be direct, were you satisfied with Randy Moss’s effort?
BB: Look, I said the same thing about everybody on the team. Could players have played better? Could coaches have coached better yesterday? Sure. Randy Moss has been one of our most consistent players since he’s been here. His production’s been pretty good and I think you certainly see that they way other teams defend him, that they must have an awful lot of respect for him, too, which I do. We can sit in here every week and talk about somebody who didn’t have big stats. ‘So what happened this week?’ You could pick out somebody every week on the team that didn’t have big stats – somebody in the running game, somebody in the passing game, somebody on defense. Everybody can’t have high stats every week; it’s impossible. We can always pick out somebody that doesn’t have them and say, ‘What happened to them?’

Q: Are we chasing this misconception when we say, ‘Randy Moss dogged it’?
BB: You can say whatever you want. That’s your job. Say whatever you want.

Q: I’m asking the expert…
BB: I just told you that I have a lot of respect for Randy. I think he’s one of our best players. If you watch other teams defend him, watch other teams play against him, they think the same way, other than these two guys [Chris Gamble and Chris Harris] from Carolina after they lost another game. I guess they don’t think that way, but they haven’t won a lot of games now.

You know how I feel about stats. Really, stats are for losers. Final scores are for winners and that’s really what it’s about. When we had games when I was with the Giants and we couldn’t hold Gary Clark to under 200 yards pass receiving and some of those were wins. That’s the bottom line.

The media dog has it's teeth firmly sunk into the "Randy Moss is a lazy-ass receiver" bone and won't let go. 

The truth is that no one knows what's going on with Moss - how he feels mentally and physically - except the people who know him best and are involved in his daily life.  Moss doesn't talk with the media (gee, I wonder why) but that doesn't stop writers from speculating and conjuring up some pretty distasteful scenarios - he quit on the team; he's getting back at Belichick for sending him home; his feelings were hurt and he can't concentrate; he's the same-old-Moss that 'plays when he wants to play'; he's jealous of Welker getting most of the receptions; he's bringing down the team; he's fragile...etc...  What is clear is that none of them are willing to give the future Hall of Famer the benefit of any doubt.

If Randy Moss truly were a locker room cancer, a dogger, or a guy that doesn't give it his best shot during practices and games do you really think Belichick would be keeping him on the team or be defending him so vigorously?  Are he and Tom Brady so blinded by Moss's raw talent that they can't see what appears so blatantly obvious to every single media member from here to Oakland?  Personally I don't think so and will err on the side of his teammates.  I think the reporters should lay off a bit, step back, and maybe rethink the running storyline it has pursued since Randy Moss came to New England - unless they're the ones too stubborn, too pouty, or too lazy-ass to change.