The Pats skipper says benching Richard Seymour was a coaching decision.

FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) – Coach Bill Belichick said Monday his decision not to start defensive end Richard Seymour for the first time this season wasn’t a disciplinary matter.

Seymour, who made the Pro Bowl last season, missed practice last Thursday and Friday to attend the funeral of his grandfather in South Carolina. When he returned on Friday, he said Belichick told him he wouldn’t start Sunday.

Belichick described the move as “a coaching decision” after the Patriots 27-13 win over Jacksonville. On Monday, he gave few other details.

“What happened is what happened,” Belichick said. “He’s one of our best players. I have the utmost respect for Richard Seymour, OK?

“There’s no disciplinary thing. None of that. It’s a coaching decision or was a coaching decision.”

In the past, Belichick has said that one factor in giving playing time is how much a player practiced for a game.

Seymour and the other Patriots players were not available to reporters on Monday, but he said Sunday that he was prepared. Jarvis Green started in his place.,

Seymour is one of the best players on an outstanding defense that went 19 quarters at home without allowing a touchdown until the Jaguars scored with 3:22 left in Sunday’s game. The Patriots (12-2) have won their last 10 games.

With 9:30 left in the second quarter, Seymour entered the game on defense for the first time. On three of his first five plays, he held Fred Taylor to two 1-yard gains and sacked Byron Leftwich, forcing a fumble that Jacksonville recovered.

Seymour finished the game with seven tackles and the Patriots’ only sack.

He said he was “disappointed” and “shocked” about Belichick’s decision to keep him on the sidelines.

He said Belichick told him on Friday that Green would start. In his 41 NFL games before Sunday. Seymour started 38 times. He had started all 12 games he played in this season.

“I wasn’t injured. I felt fine,” Seymour said after the game. “Mentally, I was prepared. Everything was fine. I guess he felt differently.

“I’m going to be a professional about it,” he added. “I’m not going to look at him (Belichick) any differently. I’m just going to do what I do.”

In his third season since the Patriots took him with the sixth pick of the 2001 draft, Seymour is one of the NFL’s top defensive linemen. He is a team captain and has been praised by Belichick for his personality and performance.

Belichick was reluctant to get into detail about his decision not to start Seymour.

“I think Richard has talked about his personal situation, which is something that I don’t feel comfortable talking about,” Belichick said, “but if he wants to talk about it, I have no problem with that.”

Each week, he said, he and his assistant coaches make many decisions on who should play.

“I just don’t think I can sit here and detail every single thing that goes into it and I don’t think I would do it anyway,” Belichick said.

AP-ES-12-15-03 1656EST