Tom Brady Following New England’s Overtime Defeat At Denver
October 12, 2009 – 11:05 am by Michael Bean
Wow, what a start to the Josh McDaniels era in Denver. The former offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots is now 5-0 as a head coach after his Broncos knocked off the mighty Patriots 20-17 in overtime on Sunday. Once again Denver’s defense came through big, limiting the Patriots to just 305 yards of offense and Tom Brady to just 19 of 33 passing and 215 yards. Brady, who has yet to really have a huge day through the air this year, joined WEEI in Bostonto talk about the loss, if he expects himself and the team to improve as the season progresses, and if he thinks New England’s offense may or may not be struggling now that they’re not having plays called by their one-time offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
On why he hasn’t been able to make the throws and plays people are accustomed to seeing Brady make thus far this year:
“I’m tough on myself also. When you miss throws, you’re certainly disappointed. We don’t have the margin of error to miss throws. We missed a couple yesterday that were important plays. You’ve got to find ways to do it better. Keep going back to work, work on the mechanics, work on the timing, work on the plays and try to execute better.”
On if he thinks it’s unfair for people to expect him to be as brilliant as he was in 2007:
“I don’t think so. That’s where the expectation lies. If there’s an opportunity to make a play, to throw the ball and complete it, then I feel you should be 100 percent. If the defense makes a good play, they make a good play. If they don’t, then they don’t. Believe me, there’s obviously after a game a lot of soul-searching. The only thing I can focus on is what I need to do better. And there’s plenty of things I need to do better. We’ve got 11 games to play. We’ve got an opponent this week that’s always a tough test for us. Hopefully, we can go out there and play better. I’m excited to get back to practice on Wednesday and get back to work.”
On if the loss of Josh McDaniels as play caller has anything to do with the Patriots lack of consistent success on offense:
“Josh is a great coach, and he’s leading his team well. We were up 17-7 going into the second half yesterday. It’s not that we don’t play good football at times, we’re just not playing well enough consistently. We had a lead at the half of the Jets game, and a lead at the half of this game. We can do it. There’s no magic solution to this. The solution is for us to go out and play better. I think that’s what it is collectively. The plays were there to be called, and we’re going in to execute them, and there’s opportunities execute them, and we haven’t done that as consistently as we’re used to. That’s just the way football is. You go out there and you try to do it better the next week. That’s what we’re going to do. That’s what I’m excited to do. This is a big week for us.”
On if their two losses to the rival Jets and a former coach are harder to swallow because of who they were against:
“They’re both tough. It’s a lonely flight home for all of us. We all sit there and think of every play in the game that you could’ve made that you should’ve made. You know, all of them are tough, it’s a silent flight home and a silent bus ride and it’s a tough day today. And you move on. I’ve played for a long time and I think you realize you lose games and you congratulate the other team and get back to work, and you can’t let one loss become two losses because that’s when your season really starts to go. I think that the important thing for us is to identify all the things we’ve done right over the last five weeks and all the things we’ve done wrong the last five weeks and try to build toward something better and more consistent and that’s just hard work. That’s just understanding it and putting the work in and going out there and performing better. There is no magic solution.”
On if he assumes that the Patriots will get better as the season progresses:
“I wouldn’t assume anything. Every week is a new process. What happened in the Baltimore game has nothing to do with what happened in the Denver game which will have nothing to do with the Tennessee game. That’s the way it is. You have to go out and give it everything you have every day of every week. The teams that do well continue to build and get better. You find your identity, you find the things you do well and you do them. You find the things you’re not doing well and you stop doing those. That’s part of what you do as an offense. And as a defense. The things you think may work though mini-camps and through the preseason, just aren’t working. So you say, “OK, we’re moving on from those.” They’ve had four or five games and they’re not panning out the way we thought, but these things are working good and this is what we’re going to to more of. That’s what every team does. Yo have to identify what you’re good at and what you’re not so good at and improve the things you’re not good at but also build on the things you’re doing a good job at.”
Listen here to Brady with Dennis & Callahan on WEEI in Boston
Tags: Bill Belichick, Denver Broncos, Josh McDaniels, New England Patriots, Tom Brady, WEEI
