In his 20 years with the New England Patriots, veteran quarterback Tom Brady was never called out or criticized in public or in the media by head coach Bill Belichick, who is known to speak his mind during meetings and practices. After he was publicly criticized by head coach Bruce Arians, many thought that it would create a rift with the 43-year-old Brady. But in Thursday’s media conference ahead of their Sunday’s clash with the Carolina Panthers, Brady cleared the air on his relationship with Arians. "He's the coach. I'm a player. We're trying to win a game,” Brady said when asked about Arians’ public criticism of him.
Brady was not his typical self in their loss to the New Orleans Saints, completing 23 of 36 passes for 239 yards. He also had two touchdown passes and two interceptions, along with a QB sneak touchdown. However, it was not enough as the Buccaneers committed various turnovers and penalties that allowed the Saints to control the game.
During the media conference, Brady said he’s still in the process of learning. “I think it’s a long process in trying to improve in a lot of different areas. I think about being the best I could be and the process that I had to go through to make it happen,” said Brady. Every week, Brady said the team will face different challenges, and it starts with better communication.
“Being on the same page with my teammates so we can execute,” said Brady, adding that turnovers will make it hard to win a game. Earlier, Arians blamed the two touchdowns on Brady, but later backtracked, saying that the first was a miscommunication between the veteran quarterback and wide receiver Mike Evans. Brady recently allayed the worries of the fans, saying it's early in the season.
Favre warns Arians
On Wednesday, Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre warned Arians that publicly criticizing Brady might create problems in the future that might affect the overall performance of the team. In his "The SiriusXM Blitz" program, Favre said Arians should have not called out Brady publicly, especially in the first game of the year.
"Dissension could easily enter quickly," said Favre. But the Hall of Fame quarterback said Brady and Arians will have no problem if they have a mutual truce going into the season, where the head coach informed the quarterback ahead of time that he will be hard on him to inform the players that he’s not being treated differently. “If they have that truce, great. If not, I think you are barking up the wrong tree,” said Favre.
Arians replies to Favre
When asked about Favre’s comment, Arians told the media, per Jenna Laine of ESPN, that he and Tom are fine. “I don't really care what other people think. So it's just what he and I think," Arians said. According to Arians, he and Brady left the stadium and showed up today in practice with a good relationship so there’s nothing to talk about. Arians added that he expects Brady to bounce back when they take on the Panthers on Sunday.
