Sports Radio Interviews

Tom Brady: “My arm feels great so I am feeling really good physically and I am excited to get back to work.”

The New England Patriots are sitting in a familiar place atop the AFC East division after their week 8 bye. Their bye could not have come at a better time. Fresh off of a 35-7 win in London over the defeated Buccaneers, the Patriots needed every bit of this week to rest, relax and rehab their bodies to finish the grueling sixteen game regular season schedule. Tom Brady is looking forward to returning to action against their familiar AFC East rival, the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins are playing good football now and have improved their record to 3-4 after starting the season 0-3. Bill Belichick and the Patriots have won their last ten games after a bye week (including playoffs) dating back to 2003 against the Cowboys when they won 12-0. I like the Patriots chances this week against the Dolphins and they should improve their record to 6-2.

Tom Brady joined WEEI in Boston to talk about whether the bye week is all about healing mentally or physically, whether teammates plan things together during bye weeks or go on their separate ways, what he did during the bye week, and whether he was disappointed with Brett Favre coming back after missing all of training camp.

Whether the bye week is all about healing mentally or physically:

“Um probably more mentally than anything.  My body is feeling great.  I haven’t been sacked much this year.  I haven’t taken many hits.  My arm feels great so I am feeling really good physically and I am excited to get back to work.  I think that is… You know watching the games yesterday (Sunday) you are glad you are resting in a sense but another sense wishes you were out there playing especially watching the Miami/Jet game.  You know you get anxious to get back on the field.”

On whether teammates plan things together during bye weeks or go on their separate ways:

“You know everyone kind of has plans for the week.  For most of our lives probably since high school we haven’t had any time off in the Fall.  So my week whether it was college; now obviously our pro career, the one weekend that you kind of plan for before the season, this is what we are going to do.  Everyone talks about it.  Everyone is always concerned about the bye week schedule so you can plan that special occasion that you had planned.”

On what he did during the bye week:

“You know my wife and I went on vacation in Florida and spent some time together that we haven’t had in a while.  It was kind of our… We never really had a honeymoon so it was kind of our honeymoon.”

Whether he could imagine the kind of situation Brett Favre went through and whether he was rooting for or against Favre:

“You know a lot has been made over him in the last few years and I think it is interesting as a quarterback there is not many quarterbacks that retire just to retire.  Most quarterbacks whether it was Elway, Marino or Young, Montana, you know retired because it was you get hurt or you physically can’t do it.  When I have seen Brett Favre and I heard it at one of his press conferences: I still know I can play but I am not sure if I want to do it anymore.  Immediately I thought well he is coming back.  It’s because quarterbacks don’t take that physical beating that so many other positions take.  You don’t line up in fill pads in practice everyday and hit the guy standing across from you.  We get to…it’s like going to play catch in the back yard, you see we go out there and you see the look on guys faces on a Wednesday and when you come in on the practice schedule it says: Full Pads.  For the quarterbacks no one really cares because quarterbacks don’t care.  We don’t get hit in practice anyways so you know I think he has been a great player in this league and has been an example of a professional athlete and how to overcome a lot of obstacles in your career.  He is extremely mentally tough.  His streak of playing is unbelievable.  He has meant a lot to the league and to go back to Lambeau yesterday, which has its own tradition, it was a pretty special thing to watch.  He always seems to rise to the occasion.  He is always aware it is a Monday night game or I remember the game when his father passed away and he came out and threw all of those touchdowns in Oakland.  He is just that kind of player and those special players don’t come along so often and I think now Green Bay had him for a long time and he is playing with a great team now in Minnesota.”

Whether he was disappointed with Brett Favre coming back after missing all of training camp:

“No it doesn’t and the reason is there is a lot of guys who would love to do that and a lot of guys do do that.  A lot of the veteran free agents do sign with teams until two or three weeks into training camp.  Whether it is the Ty Law situation, or a guy like Junior Seau, your body will only let you do so much and training camp is to get you ready for the football season.  For Brett as long as he has played it is obvious that he is ready for the football season when he started.  He just got more attention doing it than any other unrestricted free agent and that is really what he was.  He was an unrestricted free agent that wasn’t under contract with anybody.  Why does he need to make a decision in April or May you know?  If he wants to wait so be it and it is up to the team whether they want to sign you but that is really the right to the player.”

Tom Brady with Dennis and Callahan on WEEI in Boston

Tags: AFC East, Belichick, Bill \, Brett Favre, Junior Seau, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, NFL, Tom Brady