New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady says time and time again that he’s not responsible for the management of personnel. But he does have to work with whatever Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio and Bill Belichick provide for the offense.
This year, the provisions have been scarce, though not for lack of trying. The Patriots have seen Demaryius Thomas, Antonio Brown and Josh Gordon come and go. They’ve managed injuries to Julian Edelman, Mohamed Sanu, Phillip Dorsett and N’Keal Harry. And that’s just the receiver position. The tight end position has dealt with a notable retirement (Rob Gronkowski) suspensions (Benjamin Watson) and injuries (Matt LaCosse, Ryan Izzo).
During an appearance on Westwood One on Monday night, Brady was asked about managing that adversity. The interviewer, Jim Gray, read a tweet which listed many of the issues Brady has faced. The quarterback got a good, long laugh after hearing that list.
“Well, I would say the guys that I’m in there with and playing with are fighting hard, and they’re battling, and I love being out there with them,” Brady told Westwood One’s Jim Gray. “I’ve had a lot of challenges over the course of my career. Our team has. And we’re not listening to anyone outside of our locker room. We’re ignoring the noise. We’ve talked about that. We have a belief of the things we need to do, and we’re going to work hard to make those things happen.
“And I’m proud of our record. We’re 10-1. We’ve got 53 guys on the roster. It’s the ultimate team sport. That’s what it’s about. It’s about the team — T-E-A-M. And you try to win the game however you can, and every week it’s going to be a little bit different. And we’re playing against a great caliber of opponents that have incredible amounts of talent, discipline, well-coached, and I’m just happy we’re finding ways to win. That’s what we’re going to need to continue to do.”
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