QUARTERBACK TOM BRADY
PRESS CONFERENCE
October 19, 2019
Q: Some of these guys may want to talk about football, but I want to ask you about this video that's making the rounds on Twitter. Walking out of a massage parlor with a big grin on your face. What were you thinking?
TB: That's not what that was about. I think that was taken out of context, just like you're taking it out of context and trying to make a story for yourself, which has a negative connotation to it, which I don't appreciate. It was meant to be something different than that, so the fact that it's a distraction or you're bringing it up is not something I want to be talking about.
Q: USA Today says, "Patriots QB Tom Brady spoofs Robert Kraft with a cameo at a massage parlor," so it's not just me.
TB: I think it's just, again, I think it's this type of media atmosphere that you create – the blame and shame media atmosphere that's kind of percolated for a while. I think there's a lot of things that are said that are taken out of context, that you choose to make a headline of as opposed to understand what it's actually about. Have you seen it?
Q: I understand the background of it and I understand the context. Yes, I have.
TB: You've seen it, and that's what it was about?
Q: No, I know that it wasn't.
TB: OK, so it wasn't about that. Except you want to try to use something and use it to take it out of context. Is that what you choose to do in the media? That's what you tried to do.
Q: If you shot it in the last year, wouldn't you know it might be construed that way?
TB: No. It was shot on a green screen. It was agreed to a year ago. It was written four years ago. I think it's unfortunate that people would choose to think I would ever do something like that about Mr. Kraft. I think that's just a very bad assessment of my relationship with him. I would never do that.
Q: Since it came out, have you explained that to him?
TB: No, I think everybody knows what our relationship is about. For 20 years, it's nothing but love and respect. [I've] been through a lot of tough things with him and I love him dearly. I sympathize with a lot of things that he's gone through in his life. So, I empathize with a lot of people that get taken advantage of and used, and understand that that's just part of what we're living in, and that's what it's about. Does anyone else have any questions?
Q: You've had this time to rest and recharge, but do you worry about any rust going into a Monday night game?
TB: Not too much. I think you're always trying to get out there. I mean, we've had 11 days and we've had four practices, so I feel like we're ready to go. It's been a tough week. Guys are grinding through it and trying to go out there and have a great night. They're going to test us, very physical. Played well at home against Dallas last week, so it's going to be a big challenge.
Q: What do you do to try to avoid a similar injury to Patrick Mahomes' on those quarterback sneak plays?
TB: Pliability, man. That's what I work on every day.
Q: Is that just a freak thing that happens?
TB: Getting injured?
Q: No, the injury to Mahomes specifically.
TB: I mean, it's football. It's a contact sport, so guys get hurt all the time. I think that's the nature of a physical sport, whether it's football or – you run around, it's part of it. So, you've just got to do the best you can to try to avoid getting injured, but sometimes you can't.
Q: Is there something you're looking for pre-snap when you are trying a sneak?
TB: I'm just trying to get the first down. If that's what it's got to be, I try to get as many yards as I can, so I try to go to the soft spot of the defense and – yeah, try to get as many as I can.
Q: Bill Belichick is reaching some pretty impressive numbers in terms of wins. What impresses you most about him?
TB: I think just his consistency, dependability. I think all of those things we talk about in a great player, it's the same thing in a great coach. I think his dependability, his consistency, what he brings to work every day and his commitment to our team – I don't think you can ask for anything more than that as a player. He's got great competitive stamina, and in my view, he's the greatest coach of all time. So, it's a privilege to play for him, and just to see him get all of these wins. He certainly deserves it.
Q: How would you define competitive stamina?
TB: Well, I think you've got to bring it every day. I think this is kind of the time in the year, after six weeks, where people start getting a little fatigued. You get a little tired. You guys probably feel that, too. You start getting a little bit tired, and you take a little shortcut and you don't quite work as long. That's the same for the players. You get a little tired during the week, so you study a little less, you don't watch as much film, or you don't go as hard in practice. I think if you do that, you shortcut yourself, and then you shortcut the team. And I think this team has always done a good job pushing through those moments, those opportunities, and you just keep grinding – I think that's a word we use around here a lot – and you try to do the best you can do every day.
Q: With the game being Monday night and between Boston and New York, this game seems to have higher energy. Do you love this atmosphere?
TB: Yeah, I mean, Monday Night Football. It's great. It's only once a year that we get to do it, and I think with the Thursday night games now, it's taken a little steam out of that – Sunday night games and so forth. But, it's still a special night, and we get a little extra time to prepare, but they're going to be ready to go. They've got a big, physical defensive front, very aggressive coaches – coaches that have coached against us quite a few times. So, they'll be fired up and ready to go.
Q: In the second half of the week three game, was it more about the adjustments they made against your offense, or more about players who were missing for the second half?
TB: In that first game?
Q: Yeah.
TB: That hurt us. When Julian went out, we had to kind of readjust everything that we were doing because he's kind of the one that has a lot of roles and responsibilities. So, that's just part of football. I think that's the big challenge, is week-to-week guys being injured and they come in and out and so forth. And then when you lose guys during the game, you know, you just kind of scramble to make it happen and switch some things around there at the end.
Q: Do you spend any time researching the officiating crews prior to a game? Do you have any preconceived notions going into a game about how a crew is going to call it?
TB: Coach talks about that. He talks about kind of what they call and so forth. This particular crew may call a lot of holdings or a lot of defensive pass penalties, so we do discuss that. I mean, once you get out there, I think you do business as business is being done. Sometimes they call it a little tighter, sometimes they let you play a little bit. But, football, there's kind of penalties on every play. It's just a matter of whether they call them or not. So, if they're calling it tight, then you just have to be cognizant of that.
Q: When the game begins and you see flags, do you have a feeling of, "Oh, it's going to be one of these nights," sometimes?
TB: I think that happens. It's probably the middle of the second quarter, you start to feel that. If there start to be a lot of penalties there in the first quarter, then the game gets a little slower, but yeah, you feel it.
Q: Are you starting to trust Gunner Olszewski more in the offense?
TB: Yeah, definitely. I think they're – like I said, those guys are – when you're young, you gain trust in practice, and a lot of it's doing the right thing over and over and over again. Those guys are working at it. I mean, they've been here a short period of time, so try to get as many reps as you can and talk about things. You get coached up, and any young player, they're trying to earn the trust of the coach and the players every day.
Q: How much of it was just trial-by-fire in that last game?
TB: Yeah, quite a bit. Yeah, you get a lot of confidence, and especially when they make a couple plays. And I think they start believing they can do it too, so I think it's a good thing to have happen. And Gunner's been out there on punt returns, so it's not like he hasn't played much, but certainly at receiver it's been a little bit new.
Q: Are you excited to have Ben Watson back?
TB: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I love Ben.
