Brady: at times ‘I don’t think we fight very hard’

MoLewisrocks said:

He said we guys, not I. He's been fighting all season for a lot of reasons. Lack of fight has never been his problem. Why some of you can't accept THAT after ten seasons is what is really mindnumbing... He won a Superbowl the week his grandmother died and his uncle was diagnosed with cancer and his dad was hospitalized. He busted his ass to come back from a season ending knee injury and shook the rust off over three and a half quarters and scored two TD's in a matter of minutes to win that game. Since then his over rated OL has proven again it still cannot pass protect or run block consistently, his $9M #1 WR still can't beat double coverage or jams or fight for balls, his most reliable weapon missed 2 games and is now being double covered thanks to 5 linemen who can't block 3, he never knows who his #3 receiver will be - the ST captain, or one of the rookie conversion projects, his HC is making erratic situational decisions, he's lucky if he starts a drive beyond the 20, he's played an entire game with a backup center and four with a rookie LT, and this week with a backup RG, his defense is giving up big drives to probowlers and third tier or rookie QB's this fanbase mocks almost at will, his HC is healthy scratching veteran players and holding spots for injured players like roster spots grow on trees, he's dealing with a new OC by committee approach that is sometimes late in agreeing on playcalls, he's working with personnel who have to be repositioned at the LOS, and he's probably the only starter on the team who hasn't missed a practice in 12 weeks.

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Great post, but the cementheads on this list will not be convinced.

I totally agree with MoLewis about Brady.

I would add though that there are problems with the offense that make the OL look so bad in pass protection.

I said this once on Patsfans in another thread but if you go back to the Miami game, you'll see defenders getting off the ball quickly. There is absolutely no mystery about our snap count. The clock winds down to one most of the time so the defense tees off. We're predictable too, teams know when we're throwing and when we're running. The OL is a step behind as the defense gets to power into them quickly. The OL has a natural advantage because they get to fire off first typically. That advantage is minimized for the Patriots OL.

I don't know if it's scheme, offensive strategy or if Dante is missing this somehow, but I do notice that the Patriots OL does not have that natural advantage.

upstater1 said:

I totally agree with MoLewis about Brady.

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So do I.

In fact I simply cannot believe posters who come up with nonsense like "his head is not in the game". What bullcrap. Look at his post game presser on Sunday and tell me this wasn't a guy who was absolutely devastated by the loss to Miami. Tom looked more lost for words than he did after the game which shall not be mentioned. We expect too much from Brady. Give him a break and realise he is only one of 11 offensive players and like all QB's is only as good as what is in front of him.

This has probably already been said, but this sounds alot like "we had protection problems"......

MoLewisrocks said:

He said we guys, not I. He's been fighting all season for a lot of reasons. Lack of fight has never been his problem. Why some of you can't accept THAT after ten seasons is what is really mindnumbing... He won a Superbowl the week his grandmother died and his uncle was diagnosed with cancer and his dad was hospitalized. He busted his ass to come back from a season ending knee injury and shook the rust off over three and a half quarters and scored two TD's in a matter of minutes to win that game. Since then his over rated OL has proven again it still cannot pass protect or run block consistently, his $9M #1 WR still can't beat double coverage or jams or fight for balls, his most reliable weapon missed 2 games and is now being double covered thanks to 5 linemen who can't block 3, he never knows who his #3 receiver will be - the ST captain, or one of the rookie conversion projects, his HC is making erratic situational decisions, he's lucky if he starts a drive beyond the 20, he's played an entire game with a backup center and four with a rookie LT, and this week with a backup RG, his defense is giving up big drives to probowlers and third tier or rookie QB's this fanbase mocks almost at will, his HC is healthy scratching veteran players and holding spots for injured players like roster spots grow on trees, he's dealing with a new OC by committee approach that is sometimes late in agreeing on playcalls, he's working with personnel who have to be repositioned at the LOS, and he's probably the only starter on the team who hasn't missed a practice in 12 weeks.

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Thank you. People are just searching for ridiculous excuses for him right now.

MoLewisrocks said:

The team isn't. He's actually performing better than his career average across the board.

Tom Brady - New England Patriots - Situational Statistics - NFL - Yahoo! Sports

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In the beginning of the season, Kevin Faulk said something about Brady not being as intense as he remembers.

I have tried hunting down this quote down, without luck.

Again, I am not lambasting Brady (I do know he is human) or making light of what he has accomplished in the past. I just feel that there is just a little something that is missing, for one reason or another.

Patspsycho said:

In the beginning of the season, Kevin Faulk said something about Brady not being as intense as he remembers.

I have tried hunting down this quote down, without luck.

Again, I am not lambasting Brady (I do know he is human) or making light of what he has accomplished in the past. I just feel that there is just a little something that is missing, for one reason or another.

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This is nothing new. Brady himself has said that his life's priorities have shifted (kids, etc.) and as a result, has not "won" the offseason workout award going on two years now. I don't believe he won it in 2007 but managed to put up an OK year.

Whats missing is a cohesive o-line, a respected running game, better playcalling/adjustments and a legitimate 3rd option at WR. Brady has made some mistakes and he may be locking in on Moss and Welker too much but IMO is not the problem- he is the solution.

MoLewisrocks said:

He said we guys, not I. He's been fighting all season for a lot of reasons. Lack of fight has never been his problem. Why some of you can't accept THAT after ten seasons is what is really mindnumbing... He won a Superbowl the week his grandmother died and his uncle was diagnosed with cancer and his dad was hospitalized. He busted his ass to come back from a season ending knee injury and shook the rust off over three and a half quarters and scored two TD's in a matter of minutes to win that game. Since then his over rated OL has proven again it still cannot pass protect or run block consistently, his $9M #1 WR still can't beat double coverage or jams or fight for balls, his most reliable weapon missed 2 games and is now being double covered thanks to 5 linemen who can't block 3, he never knows who his #3 receiver will be - the ST captain, or one of the rookie conversion projects, his HC is making erratic situational decisions, he's lucky if he starts a drive beyond the 20, he's played an entire game with a backup center and four with a rookie LT, and this week with a backup RG, his defense is giving up big drives to probowlers and third tier or rookie QB's this fanbase mocks almost at will, his HC is healthy scratching veteran players and holding spots for injured players like roster spots grow on trees, he's dealing with a new OC by committee approach that is sometimes late in agreeing on playcalls, he's working with personnel who have to be repositioned at the LOS, and he's probably the only starter on the team who hasn't missed a practice in 12 weeks.

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Well said. :rocker:

Patspsycho said:

In the beginning of the season, Kevin Faulk said something about Brady not being as intense as he remembers.

I have tried hunting down this quote down, without luck.

Again, I am not lambasting Brady (I do know he is human) or making light of what he has accomplished in the past. I just feel that there is just a little something that is missing, for one reason or another.

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That was after the first couple of weeks when he was feeling his way back into this offense. I think it was apparent his intensity had returned when Galloway was benched and then released. I think in some other instances he's walking on eggshells this season because of the nature of the problems and who they entail. Guys he has always supported whether in wins or losses who just don't seem to be responding to whichever tack he takes. He's pretty intense lately...he looks like he's seething internally.

If you recall back to 2008 Brady was injured and mentally battered and Belichick basically told him to get away from the game more in the offseason. Even when he returned Belichick chose to not play him at all in the pre season and played all of his veterans less than normal. It resulted in a lackluster pre season where Cassel was being lambasted for being a Walmart bagger and the failure of the first string offense to execute was being layed at his feet by everyone outside of Gillette. First series of the first game of the season Brady was hitting wide open receivers named Welker and Moss on the numbers and they were dropping passes. Brady stood tall in the pocket waiting for Moss to come open on his last throw of that season only to have his knee blown in the process while Moss untouched by a defender simply dropped that 3rd down conversion throw to end that series...and Brady's season.

2007 took a lot out of these players. Some recovered sooner than later. Some never fully did. Brady isn't one of them courtesy of his 11 month hiatus on IR. He was throwing and ready to go in February 2009 on the day the Steelers won their second Superbowl in two seasons...(and funny how they are struggling on so many fronts and their HC is questioning their intensity this week). He was game speed rusty but ready on opening day 2009. He knocked the personal rust off pdq. It was the team around him struggling in week 2 and again in week 5 and again in week 8 and now in back to back weeks in 11 and 12 that is causing him to appear to have something on his mind. It isn't anything personal, it's something professional. He hasn't played on a team like this before. One that simply doesn't get better or possibly even get it as fall turns to winter on the sidelines as well as on the field.

Like Bruschi said he's always on them in private but for him to feel compelled to say anything in public however veiled is a sign of something genuinely troubling. It's obviously bothering Welker, too. And Faulk doesn't seem to disagree. Haven't heard what the rest of the offense is thinking. If he felt he was hindering them he'd say so, he always takes responsiblity to a greater extent than his own performance almost ever warrants. Same as Welker and Faulk. He's not the problem. They're not the problem. Something or things else is and it's not getting better for the first time in forever. If he felt that covering for them of showing them he still has their back was going to work, he'd have stayed that course.

But it's week 13 and that hasn't worked. Somethings gotta give. He wasn't here last season largely at Belichick's request and maybe like most here he thought their struggles with consistency had a lot more to do with Cassel's learning curve than they ever did. Maybe he's finding out for real the hard way that this offense has critical flaws it cannot or will not fight it's own way through any more. I think he's smart enough to know it always had some, just never so many he personally and a select few players and coaches couldn't compensate for them all or for enough of them to at least have a shot. Given what they all go through each season to get to this juncture that has to be a bitter pill to possibly be forced to swallow.

I know it upsets fans to no end and all they're doing for nine months is watching and investing a few bucks and some emotion. This is what they do for a living and build entire lifetimes around although they don't get 40 years to get it right. Players only get a window of 8, 12, 15 years if their lucky that can slam on them as individuals in an instant every time they take the field. Brady was always driven to make the most of his window of opportunity. If anything he is driven moreso after nearly seeing to slammed in an instant and being forced to sit and watch others play a game he is nowhere near ready to move on from. It's never enough for him. Maybe for some of his teamates it is.

A leader leads. One of the all time greats around here once said after a bad playoff loss the 'we played like a bunch of sissies tonight' and 'somtimes we don't have the heart needed'

This was the result

YouTube - Kevin McHale Clotheslines Kurt Rambis

if its true then Brady didn't go far enough with his comments and should have been even more direct.

MoLewisrocks said:

That was after the first couple of weeks when he was feeling his way back into this offense. I think it was apparent his intensity had returned when Galloway was benched and then released. I think in some other instances he's walking on eggshells this season because of the nature of the problems and who they entail. Guys he has always supported whether in wins or losses who just don't seem to be responding to whichever tack he takes. He's pretty intense lately...he looks like he's seething internally.

If you recall back to 2008 Brady was injured and mentally battered and Belichick basically told him to get away from the game more in the offseason. Even when he returned Belichick chose to not play him at all in the pre season and played all of his veterans less than normal. It resulted in a lackluster pre season where Cassel was being lambasted for being a Walmart bagger and the failure of the first string offense to execute was being layed at his feet by everyone outside of Gillette. First series of the first game of the season Brady was hitting wide open receivers named Welker and Moss on the numbers and they were dropping passes. Brady stood tall in the pocket waiting for Moss to come open on his last throw of that season only to have his knee blown in the process while Moss untouched by a defender simply dropped that 3rd down conversion throw to end that series...and Brady's season.

2007 took a lot out of these players. Some recovered sooner than later. Some never fully did. Brady isn't one of them courtesy of his 11 month hiatus on IR. He was throwing and ready to go in February 2009 on the day the Steelers won their second Superbowl in two seasons...(and funny how they are struggling on so many fronts and their HC is questioning their intensity this week). He was game speed rusty but ready on opening day 2009. He knocked the personal rust off pdq. It was the team around him struggling in week 2 and again in week 5 and again in week 8 and now in back to back weeks in 11 and 12 that is causing him to appear to have something on his mind. It isn't anything personal, it's something professional. He hasn't played on a team like this before. One that simply doesn't get better or possibly even get it as fall turns to winter on the sidelines as well as on the field.

Like Bruschi said he's always on them in private but for him to feel compelled to say anything in public however veiled is a sign of something genuinely troubling. It's obviously bothering Welker, too. And Faulk doesn't seem to disagree. Haven't heard what the rest of the offense is thinking. If he felt he was hindering them he'd say so, he always takes responsiblity to a greater extent than his own performance almost ever warrants. Same as Welker and Faulk. He's not the problem. They're not the problem. Something or things else is and it's not getting better for the first time in forever. If he felt that covering for them of showing them he still has their back was going to work, he'd have stayed that course.

But it's week 13 and that hasn't worked. Somethings gotta give. He wasn't here last season largely at Belichick's request and maybe like most here he thought their struggles with consistency had a lot more to do with Cassel's learning curve than they ever did. Maybe he's finding out for real the hard way that this offense has critical flaws it cannot or will not fight it's own way through any more. I think he's smart enough to know it always had some, just never so many he personally and a select few players and coaches couldn't compensate for them all or for enough of them to at least have a shot. Given what they all go through each season to get to this juncture that has to be a bitter pill to possibly be forced to swallow.

I know it upsets fans to no end and all they're doing for nine months is watching and investing a few bucks and some emotion. This is what they do for a living and build entire lifetimes around although they don't get 40 years to get it right. Players only get a window of 8, 12, 15 years if their lucky that can slam on them as individuals in an instant every time they take the field. Brady was always driven to make the most of his window of opportunity. If anything he is driven moreso after nearly seeing to slammed in an instant and being forced to sit and watch others play a game he is nowhere near ready to move on from. It's never enough for him. Maybe for some of his teamates it is.

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i think his comment on the RZ int that he would hope randy comes down with it was somewhat telling..

strongside said:

A leader leads. One of the all time greats around here once said after a bad playoff loss the 'we played like a bunch of sissies tonight' and 'somtimes we don't have the heart needed'

This was the result

YouTube - Kevin McHale Clotheslines Kurt Rambis

if its true then Brady didn't go far enough with his comments and should have been even more direct.

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You are close. It was after a game 3 embarassement when LB said was, "Somtimes we don't play with the kind of heart that we need". Don't remember the final score but I think the C's lost by 30. He made the "we played like a bunch of sissies/woman tonight, we can play a lot harder" after a OT win in Game 4............a WIN...Gotta love Larry...

Check Brady's quote again. He said essentially the same thing w/o naming names. He went far enough in the press. I guarantee you hes having private convos with the folks who are not playing winning football.

I think people just need to relax a little bit. The Saints and Dolphins were both coming off of Thursdsay night games. Playing two weeks in a row against two teams who were sitting on ten days rest had to be hard for our guys.
Add to that the fact that it's probably pretty hard to practice every week with 20 guys on the injury list. How do they get any cohesiveness if half of them are limited in participation. We need to be patient and hope they get healthy cuz I think that's their biggest problem right now.

belichickaholic said:

I think people just need to relax a little bit. The Saints and Dolphins were both coming off of Thursdsay night games. Playing two weeks in a row against two teams who were sitting on ten days rest had to be hard for our guys.
Add to that the fact that it's probably pretty hard to practice every week with 20 guys on the injury list. How do they get any cohesiveness if half of them are limited in participation. We need to be patient and hope they get healthy cuz I think that's their biggest problem right now.

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Agreed. Wise words from the river in Egypt....

Brady focuses on football - Extra Points - Boston.com

After the birth of his second child yesterday, Tom Brady arrived -- on time -- today at the Patriots facility intent on making this a normal week.

"It’s obviously a wonderful experience in my life, but I owe it to the guys in the locker room to really be focused on what I need to do this for this team and what I have to do today," Brady said. "Put all those emotions aside and come in here with a great sense of determination for what we have to do as a team. As a captain and a leader of this team, the last thing they need from me is to be not really focused on the job at hand. It’s really a normal week for me in that sense."

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Yeah..his mind is not on the game ...

Brono said:

That's also the way I interpret the statement, but YMMV.

However, the real question is, what will be done to address these apparent effort issues?

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Given today's news, should this question be considered asked and answered?

SVN said:

Brady focuses on football - Extra Points - Boston.com


Yeah..his mind is not on the game ...

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Yep...clearly no commitment from TB. He and AD are off to Nashoba for a few runs tonight after practice.