Vontaze Burfict Blames His 2011 Season On Coaches

Arizona St. LB Vontaze Burfict was a guy we identified as really needing to have a good combine, specifically in the interview rooms. However, speaking to the press today, it doesn't sound like Burfict has been saying the right things.

He rightfully described his 2011 season as "average," but laid the blame on his coaches.

"The coaches kind of messed me up, like, I didn't know if I was going to start a game, I didn't know if I was going to be benched," he said. "So, it hurt me at times, but I tried to fight through it."

If he can't handle being shuffled in an out of the lineup... he really isn't going to like how Andy Reid handles his LBs...

Burfict was also asked about the incident in which he punched a teammate in the locker room. Again, that wasn't his fault.

"He hit me (during drills), and we had a little argument," Burfict said. "We started chatting about it (in the locker room). We started, you know, rough housing. He pushed me and my first instinct was to swing, and everybody thinks I'm a bad guy because my instinct was to swing.

"I learned from it," Burfict later said. "... I'm a softspoken guy. Shy sometimes. But when I'm on the field, I just hate to lose."

It's disheartening to see that he doesn't realize why people see it as a bad sign that his "first instinct is to swing."

If this is what he's been saying to teams, it's hard to see how he's helped his already falling stock.