Vikings' Thielen admits he 'lost his emotions' in spat with Belichick

Minnesota Vikings receiver Adam Thielen got into a heated exchange with Bill Belichick when the New England Patriots head coach elected to challenge a crucial fourth-down call in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game.

After Vikings running back Latavius Murray appeared to narrowly convert a fourth-and-1 run, Patriots safety Patrick Chung went down with an apparent injury. Thielen felt the timing of Chung's injury was "interesting," as it provided the Patriots with extra time to decide whether to challenge the officials' spotting of the ball.

"It was a close play that could have been reviewed," Thielen said, according to ESPN's Courtney Cronin. "So for me, I just lost my emotions."

Live mics on the field caught the receiver yelling "that's bull crap" in the direction of Belichick, who then appeared to respond with "shut the f--- up" before an official moved Thielen away from the Patriots sideline, according to Cronin.

"I just thought the play was cheap," Thielen said. "I wasn't directing it toward him. I just thought the play was cheap, but like I said, I let the emotions get the best of me because it's a smart football play if you are in that situation. Why not? It's not cheating because there's no rule against it from a guy going down. I don't know if he was hurt or not. He might have been hurt. That's fine. It is what it is. But like I said, just interesting timing for a guy to go down when it's a close play."

The Patriots lost the challenge but won the game 24-10. Upon reflecting on the sideline spat, the receiver felt no ill will toward Belichick.

"No offense taken," Thielen said. "It's football. There's emotions. He can think what he wants to think about me. It doesn't really change how I'm going to go play the game. He can hate me all he wants. I'm still going to be the same person I am. I'm going to try to go out and do my best, and I'm going to try and compete every play."

Patriots players took pride in seeing their typically mild-mannered coach fired up.

"It takes a lot for Bill Belichick to say something to you," Patriots safety Duron Harmon said. "It just lets you know how passionate he is. Not many people see that emotion from him a lot, but it lets everyone know how passionate he is, not only for the game but for his players. We appreciate it and only get to see that every once in a while."