The second-biggest surprise of Super Bowl LII, after Eagles quarterback Nick Foles' lights-out performance, was Patriots coach Bill Belichick's decision to bench cornerback Malcolm Butler for the entire game. Foles threw for 373 yards and 3 touchdowns in part because New England's secondary was incapable of stopping him.

And even as Butler's replacement, Eric Rowe, was beaten repeatedly, Belichick stubbornly stuck with his decision. The results, you could argue, cost the Patriots their sixth Lombardi Trophy. Butler, who never was given a reason for his benching but guessed that it had something to do with getting sick in the days leading up to the Super Bowl, has since signed with the Titans. And Belichick has refused to address the subject other than to say it was his decision.

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On Monday, quarterback Tom Brady was the latest member of the Patriots asked about the Great Butler Benching Mystery. Funny story: He had no idea Butler had been sidelined until the game was over.

"I'll say this: For a team, this side of the room is the offense and this side is the defense," Brady told interviewer Jim Gray during a Q&A at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Santa Monica, California, via MassLive.com's Kevin Duffy. "We don't interfere with them much. I didn't know. Malcolm kept coming over to me during the game and was like 'Come on, TB, let's go!' And I kept going, 'What defense are we in where Malcolm's not on the field?' Is it short-yardage, goal line? And then after the game, I found out. So I just didn't know. And I asked Malcolm and Malcolm said, 'I don't know. Coach has just decided something different.' I said, 'OK.' So I don't know what was a part of that decision-making, but I know we were trying to win the game. I don't think we were trying to do anything but win."

Does Brady have any idea why Butler didn't see the field?

"Well, I don't make those decisions," he said. "I wish he would've played, but the coach didn't play him and we still had a chance to win."

Brady, like Butler, never received an explanation. Gray asked the quarterback if fans deserved one.

"I don't know," he said. "That's probably a better answer for the guy who owns our team."

In March, Patriots owner Robert Kraft said he wouldn't second-guess Belichick's decision because he also happens to be the man responsible for bringing five Super Bowl titles to New England since 2001.

"Here's the deal, we in New England are privileged, I believe, to have the greatest coach in the history of coaching," Kraft said at the time. "You know, we're involved in a number of businesses in our family. We're in 95 countries in the world and we try to encourage to have good managers. We want them to be bold. We want them to take risks. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't. I have faith in Bill as a coach. I don't think there's anyone who has the football knowledge and expertise combined with understanding personnel. No one can merge those two worlds. He's done pretty well for us over the last 18 years." 

Specifically, Belichick is 214-74 in the regular season and 27-10 in the postseason. Pittsburgh is the only other team to eclipse 200 wins in that time (203 -- regular season and postseason), followed by Indianapolis (192), Green Bay (190) and Philadelphia (185).

Kraft continued:

"As a fan, I can question some of the moves," he said. "As someone who's privileged to be the owner of this team, I encourage him to keep going with his instincts and doing what he thinks what is right. There's no doubt in my mind, even if he made an error, and this is true with any of our managers, that if they're doing it for the right reason then I support it 100 percent. I have never had one instance in the 18 years where Bill hasn't done what he believes is in the best interest of our team and helps us to win games."