Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady will make his much-anticipated return to Foxborough on Sunday when his team visits New England, where he won six Super Bowl titles in his 20-year stint with head coach Bill Belichick. After a two-decade stint with the Patriots, the 44-year-old Brady signed a two-year deal worth $50 million with the Buccaneers and led them to their first Super Bowl title since 2002 following a 31-9 triumph over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV. The Patriots, for their part, missed the postseason for the first time since 2008 after posting a 7-9 record with 2015 Most Valuable Player Cam Newton as their quarterback.
When asked about Brady’s success with the Buccaneers during an interview on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show, Belichick replied: “Tom's a great player. Nothing surprises me that he does.” During that interview, Belichick was also asked about whether he wanted to re-sign Brady when he turned free agent last offseason, the veteran head coach said the quarterback looked at his options and he made a decision that “we weren’t as good an option as Tampa.”
Belichick grilled by media
During his session with the media, Belichick was asked by Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston on his previous statement, stressing that both team owner Robert Kraft and Brady both wanted him to finish his career in Foxborough. “Our focus is on the game here,” Belichick replied, adding “I have so much respect and appreciation for Tom and everything he did here and for me and for our team.” Belichick added that the Patriots are just getting ready to compete with the Buccaneers on Sunday.
“We’re gonna keep our focus on that,” he stressed, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. The Patriots suffered a 28-13 loss to the New Orleans Saints to slip to 1-2 on the season. The Buccaneers’ 10-game winning streak dating back to last season was snapped after they lost to the Los Angeles Rams, 34-24, on Brady’s first game in Los Angeles in his 22-year NFL career.
Brady not ready to talk about game vs Patriots yet
After the loss, Brady wasn’t ready to talk to the media about his upcoming return to Foxborough on Sunday. When asked during his press conference, Brady said he will "get through the plane and evaluate kind of what we need to do to put ourselves in a better position to win from a quarterback standpoint." "I want to win every time I take the field," added Brady, who needs just 68 yards against the Patriots to set a new all-time passing yards record. Brady will also get a chance to become the fourth quarterback in NFL history to beat all 32 teams when he goes up against the Patriots, joining Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Brett Favre.
