[jwplayer CyWAa1YN-ThvAeFxT]
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady changed the time of his weekly press conference from Friday to Wednesday in Week 12. And perhaps that’s because the week got off to a negative start on Sunday and Monday when the quarterback discussed his team’s offensive struggles.
He struck a more positive tone on Wednesday when discussing how the unit was approaching the week.
“We’re working hard to try to be as effective as we can and as – you know every team has different matchups and it’s different challenges over the course of the season with guys being in and out at practice and so forth,” Brady said during a press conference at Gillette Stadium. “But, our whole season is ahead of us.”
New England has six more games left in the regular season. If they weren’t 9-1, Brady probably wouldn’t feel like they’re got a long runway. But as they sit in the top seed in the AFC, the Patriots have wiggle room to experiment and establish an offensive identity that goes beyond their current one: defer to the defense and special teams to make a play. That’s the identity that seems to bother Brady.
To make things a bit more complicated, the Patriots were without receivers Phillip Dorsett (concussion) and Mohamed Sanu (ankle) during practice on Wednesday. It’s unclear what will come of their availability, but as they try to gain momentum as an offensive unit, Brady surely wishes those two were on the practice field. But he brushed off a question about their absence. Instead, he stayed open to adaptation and flexibility with the game plan.
“It’s great to be 9-1 but we just have high expectations for what we’re doing as an offense. We’re just trying to figure out how we can do things consistently, with dependability, and guys are working hard at it,” Brady said. “Sometimes it comes together early, middle of the season, late in the season and, you know, the only thing that matters really is this week and trying to beat a really good football team. So, I don’t know what shape it’s going to take this particular week as the game unfolds and you kind of see what the challenge is they’re presenting. Sometimes you have a great plan and then they change everything and then it’s – you’ve got to change everything and, it’s just the way it goes.
“You have a plan and you try to adjust over the course of the game but, you know, the goal is the same – it’s to, as an offense, go out there and score points and not go out there and run a bunch of plays and be ineffective.”
[vertical-gallery id=74492]