Former New England Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett disclosed an interesting story regarding the greatness and work ethic of veteran quarterback Tom Brady. Brady and head coach Bill Belichick have been working together for years and it has resulted in six Super Bowl trophies. However, Bennett said Belichick still treats Brady like an ordinary player during practices or games.
According to Bennett, Belichick openly criticizes Brady if he falters or does not perform well.
In 2016, when Bennett was still with the Patriots, he witnessed how Belichick criticized Brady after a bad practice, where the veteran quarterback failed to complete any pass while the defense was crushing the offense. “A crazy thing I saw, one day we were at practice and the defense is crushing us. Like we can’t complete no passes. You know, sometimes they do the install and it’s just the right install,[sic]” Bennett said during an interview with Fox Sports 1’s “First Things First.” During the team meeting after practice, Bennett said Belichick called out Brady, saying “we have quarterbacks that can’t make throws.”
Bennett surprised by Belichick’s move
Bennett said he was stunned by Belichick’s statement, saying he did not expect it because of Brady’s status as an elite quarterback.
In addition, Bennett said he has never seen coaches really call out the quarterbacks in group meetings. After the meeting, Bennett said he saw a mad Brady doing dropbacks. During the next practice, Bennett said Brady went “33-for-33 or something like that.”
Bennett said Brady’s work ethic is a testament of his greatness. Instead of sulking after a bad practice, Bennett said Brady was raring to bounce back. “He was like, ‘All right, I’m gonna show you tomorrow.’ He just picked them apart,” said Bennett, who won a Super Bowl ring in 2017 with the Patriots before deciding to retire after a 10-year NFL career.
Bennett won’t come back to replace Gronkowski
The Patriots still have a huge void to fill at tight end following the retirement of Rob Gronkowski.
They recently signed Austin Seferian-Jenkins as a possible replacement, but they did not take any tight end during the 2019 NFL Draft, fueling rumors that they might pick somebody from the free agent pool. It was also reported that Martellus Bennett will come out of retirement and serve as a replacement for Gronkowski for the time being.
But in an interview with TMZ Sports, Bennett said he won’t come out of retirement to serve as Gronkowski’s replacement. “That’s not me, I’m not the one to replace Gronkowski,” Bennett said. The 32-year-old Bennett also had the opportunity to play alongside his brother, defensive end Michael Bennett, but he turned down the chance, saying he’s focused on his multimedia production company.