Tom Brady
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady made his weekly appearance on Kirk & Callahan Monday morning to discuss the bye week and to look ahead to the Seattle game next Sunday night. To hear the interview, visit the K&C audio on demand page.
The Patriots and Seahawks haven’t met since Super Bowl XLIX when Brady had one of the best fourth quarters in Super Bowl history as he led the Patriots from behind to a 28-24 win. The quarterback noted how he’s watched every Seattle game so far this season on tape and they look very much like the team the Patriots played a few years ago.
“They are a good team. They are a good team,” Brady said. “They feel like the team we played in the Super Bowl. They rush. People always say: “What are some of the best defenses you play?” Seattle doesn’t do a lot defensively. It’s probably very limited with their calls, but what they do, they do extremely well. They’ve been one of the best defenses in the league. I used to play the Miami Dolphins earlier in my career and some of the worst games I ever had was playing against Miami. They would basically call two or three defenses they whole game and you knew what they were in. They knew you knew what they were in and they didn’t care. They went out there and tried to kick you around. That is what Seattle tries to do.
“They have playmakers at every level of the defense. Rushing the passer, linebackers — they have some of the best linebackers in the league — some of the best guys in the secondary. It’s going to be a big challenge for us. I am glad we’re ready for this challenge. Coming off the bye 7-1, we had a good chance to self-scout and evaluate where we’re at and now we’re going to try and put it to use in the second half.”
Brady and the team were off Thursday-Sunday, but they will return to Gillette Stadium to begin preparations for the Seahawks on Monday.
“I watched a lot of Red Zone yesterday,” he said. “Yeah, it was good. We had practice last week for a few days, and then we got away for a couple of days. I was back yesterday and just getting ready to go for the week. We have Seattle coming to town and they are a tough test. There was a lot of time yesterday studying for them. I feel good, so I am ready to go for this week. It will be a fun week.”
The quarterback was also asked to compare the 2007 offense to the Patriots offense of this year, but Brady said it’s hard to compare any offense to that one. He did note how efficient the Patriots offense has been this year and how it needs to continue that success in the second half.
“That was a different year,” he said. “We had some great players and we have some really great players now, too. Every year is different. That was a very different style of offense we played then. I think we’ve been very efficient thus far on offense this year, which has been great. LeGarrette [Blount], what we’ve done in the run game and then what we’ve done in the passsing game has been so complimentary and to have both of those things working so well, and then to be really efficient in the passing game. When we’ve been throwing the ball, we’ve had a very high efficiency. Every time we throw it’s like nine-plus yards per attempt, which is pretty amazing. I’ve always looked at teams like that, ‘Man, every time they drop back to pass to throw the ball it’s a first down.’ We have to keep doing it.
“It is one thing to be at the halfway point and identify those things as strengths and you don’t want to look at the end of the year and say, ‘Man, that fell off to seven yards per attempt or there was a lot more turnovers.’ We’ve done a good job of protecting the ball. We’ve done a pretty good in the red area, a good job on third down. Situationally, we’re playing pretty good football. All those things need to continue to be strengths. Last year we started 10-0 and we were this great bla, bla, bla — and we didn’t finish that way.
“I think a lot of it is understanding where we are at and understanding what we need to do to keep getting better. Make our weaknesses a little bit stronger, continue with our strengths and then try and stay healthy and see where we are at in a couple of months. There’s a lot of football to play. This is when football season starts to get tough. This is when you’re taxed mentally, taxed physically, when you are beat down. When you don’t feel great, you still have to go out and play. We’re going to see what we are made of.”
Following are more highlights from the conversation. For more Patriots news, visit weei.com/patriots.
On if he could ever be traded from Patriots: “I hope it never happens. I don’t think any player loves when that happens. Like I said, part of what I said last week is when you’ve been around as long as I have — Michael Jordan played for a different team, Brett Favre played for a different team, Randy Moss played for a different team, Joe Montana played for a different team. There’s been a lot of great players before me that have gone. Guys that I played with — Rodney Harrison, Wes Welker — all these guys that have been so spectacular, it is hard to imagine ever playing different places. It’s part of sports. I hope I am never in that situation because this is where I love to play. This is where I want to play, the team that I play for. My entire career I’ve loved being the quarterback for this team and hopefully I can do it for as long as I can continue to perform at a high level. That is what my goal is and I will continue to work hard at it and try and put myself in a position where I add a lot of value to the team. That is what you try and do as a player.”
On seeing a player leave via trade: “And I have been around for all those trades. Logan Mankins, Willie McGinest leaving — there’s been so many great players. It’s part of the sport. It’s not a part that I really enjoy, especially because when you’re on the players side, you deal with players on a very personal basis and you have very personal conversations. You understand the different aspects of people’s life’s and what they are going through. There is the business aspect that I don’t deal with, that management deals with and they make decisions that they feel are right. It’s always a tough part. It’s always surprising. It’s never not surprising when something like that happens.”
On Reggie Wayne saying Brady can’t win MVP this year because he “cheated this year”: “(laughs) Well, I still think he’s a great player. It doesn’t change the experiences I had when he was here. … You know, I think there’s been a lot of people who have said a lot of things over the years that I disagree with. I try and get up every day and do the best that I can do. … You give everyone else your power when you start reacting to everything that they say. I wouldn’t change places with anyone. I have healthy kids. I love my family. I love my team. I love doing what I love to do. I don’t have any complaints.”
On his 9-year-old son Jack playing fantasy football: “Cutest thing in the world, I was with him yesterday and he has his iPad and he has a fantasy team and he literally stares at the iPad waiting for his fantasy points to change. He doesn’t even watch the games, just waits and they have projections on you’re projected to score so many points and your opponent is projected — every time his projection goes up or down it’s just heartbreaking.”
On who Jack’s quarterback is: “I mean of course he picked me, are you kidding me? I think Philip Rivers was his backup.”