Brady - 'We Weren't a Mentally Tough Team'

[PatsFans.com Article]

The last time Patriots fans saw Tom Brady on the field, New England ended up on the wrong side of a 33-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens and a first round playoff exit.

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[Tunescribe]

Let's identify who Tom is alluding to. My nominees include:

* Adalius Thomas specifically, the linebacking corps in general.
* The cornerback and safety units. Not everyone all the time, but the youngsters, especially, didn't show consistent effort.
* Joey Galloway.
* I'm on the fence about Randy Moss, but feel compelled to include him. Same with Ben Watson.

 

[Uncle Rico]

* The cornerback and safety units. Not everyone all the time, but the youngsters, especially, didn't show consistent effort.

It'll be interesting to see how McCourty fits in, or is able to establish leadership. Already he looks and carries himself as more mature than most of the young DBs on the Pats. It's hard to project a rookie as a leader of a unit, but it'll be a dynamic worth watching. Somehow I don't see Meriweather as a natural leader and guys like Butler and Chung -- I'm not sure I see the same leadership traits as I see in McCourty.

 

[Ring 6]

It'll be interesting to see how McCourty fits in, or is able to establish leadership. Already he looks and carries himself as more mature than most of the young DBs on the Pats. It's hard to project a rookie as a leader of a unit, but it'll be a dynamic worth watching. Somehow I don't see Meriweather as a natural leader and guys like Butler and Chung -- I'm not sure I see the same leadership traits as I see in McCourty.

I'm starting to feel really good about the secondary we are putting together.
Butler and McCourty are top level talents and Bodden is solid. The rest of the group ought to net us enough to fill in the blanks.
Meriwhether and Chung have the potential to be a strong pair of safeties for a long time, and we have experienced vets for depth.

McCourty, Butler, Chung, Meriwhether is as talented a group of DBs as we have had here in a long, long time. As long as thier talent equates to football skill, we have a lot to look forward to

 

[Feep50]

I'm starting to feel really good about the secondary we are putting together.
Butler and McCourty are top level talents and Bodden is solid. The rest of the group ought to net us enough to fill in the blanks.
Meriwhether and Chung have the potential to be a strong pair of safeties for a long time, and we have experienced vets for depth.

McCourty, Butler, Chung, Meriwhether is as talented a group of DBs as we have had here in a long, long time. As long as thier talent equates to football skill, we have a lot to look forward to

I have to "bump" this....... I agree with this assessment.

I think this crop of rookie draft picks, in general, brings a palpable mental toughness with them. Especially looking forward to seeing how Brandon Spikes looks in TC, and into the season. He's got an edginess to him I like.

Lastly, I was very impressed with Alge Crumpler in his interview on the official site. Really, really looking forward to seeing him in a Pats jersey!

 

[the wrothbroughterer]

Let's identify who Tom is alluding to. My nominees include:

* Adalius Thomas specifically, the linebacking corps in general.
* The cornerback and safety units. Not everyone all the time, but the youngsters, especially, didn't show consistent effort.
* Joey Galloway.
* I'm on the fence about Randy Moss, but feel compelled to include him. Same with Ben Watson.

I've been frantically trying to find the video of him losing his **** on Galloway on the sidelines. You can clearly see Brady screaming "it's not that ******* hard!" and I'm pretty sure Galloway was benched immediately after.

 

[BradfordPatsFan]

It'll be interesting to see how McCourty fits in, or is able to establish leadership. Already he looks and carries himself as more mature than most of the young DBs on the Pats. It's hard to project a rookie as a leader of a unit, but it'll be a dynamic worth watching. Somehow I don't see Meriweather as a natural leader and guys like Butler and Chung -- I'm not sure I see the same leadership traits as I see in McCourty.

Just wondering what makes you think that about Butler. He was a two year captain at UConn and told the staff there he was willing to play in the kicking game and on offense in order to help the team.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Just wondering what makes you think that about Butler. He was a two year captain at UConn and told the staff there he was willing to play in the kicking game and on offense in order to help the team.

Didn't mean it as a knock -- before the '09 draft I would have been psyched if they got Chung OR Butler. I'm very optimistic about both of them as far as the talent and character they bring to the team. I think they are both team players, and that is one type of leadership.

I'm just saying what I sense from McCourty is something more, a presence that will inspire other players to follow his lead. Hope that makes sense. Time will tell. (In the same way we might see Spikes be a different type of leader than Mayo among LBs, longterm. Even Belichick used the word "presence" when talking about some of the players in this draft. To be clear: I am talking about being VERY optimistic about this year's draft class, and am not in any way down on last year's.)

 

[BradfordPatsFan]

Thanks for clarifying.

 

[Uncle Rico]

No sweat. I like the way this team is being built (as Feep50 above says, this year's picks have"palpable mental toughness." Which is even better than "presence.") I just hope it jells while Brady is still in his prime.

 

[VJCPatriot]

I'm just saying what I sense from McCourty is something more, a presence that will inspire other players to follow his lead. Hope that makes sense. Time will tell. (In the same way we might see Spikes be a different type of leader than Mayo among LBs, longterm. Even Belichick used the word "presence" when talking about some of the players in this draft. To be clear: I am talking about being VERY optimistic about this year's draft class, and am not in any way down on last year's.)

Can you give us a reason or example why you think McCourty is so chock full of "leadership"? An anecdote will do or perhaps an article.

 

[jczxohn1]

Very little is made about coaching mistakes in the Raven's game, but none could be worse than the decision about field position and taking the sun in the face to start the game. It was just as responsible for the slow start as any other factor. Mental toughness is an abstruse factor when you can't see the d*****d ball.

They didn't put them in the best position to win on that occassion.

 

[eagle eye]

Let's identify who Tom is alluding to. My nominees include:

* Adalius Thomas specifically, the linebacking corps in general.
* The cornerback and safety units. Not everyone all the time, but the youngsters, especially, didn't show consistent effort.
* Joey Galloway.
* I'm on the fence about Randy Moss, but feel compelled to include him. Same with Ben Watson.

Why do you have to think he is alluding to particular people and not just saying what he believes to everbody?

 

[eagle eye]

I have to "bump" this....... I agree with this assessment.

I think this crop of rookie draft picks, in general, brings a palpable mental toughness with them. Especially looking forward to seeing how Brandon Spikes looks in TC, and into the season. He's got an edginess to him I like.

Lastly, I was very impressed with Alge Crumpler in his interview on the official site. Really, really looking forward to seeing him in a Pats jersey!

I said after the draft that it was clear that leadership skills was very important to the Patriots.

The amount of Team Captains that were drafted was incredible.

 

[JoeShmoe]

On defense I think Vince, Mayo and Spikes will emerge as the leaders there and I hope Merriweather starts to show a bit more 'Rodney' back there

On offense im not sure why guys like the vets on the O-Line arent more vocal

 

[stinkypete]

Truer words haven't been spoken. The 2009 team was so frustratingly soft, after week 1 it could be counted on to wilt in the face of adversity. By year's end, I wasn't even sure if I liked the team (not in a bandwagoner, "I think I'll become a Saints fan" sort of way, but in a tough love sort of way).

Brady's talking toughness, Belichick's drafting toughness, now let's see if they can put it all together.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Can you give us a reason or example why you think McCourty is so chock full of "leadership"? An anecdote will do or perhaps an article.

I think leadership starts with a sense of the person; I've been impressed with how he speaks, how he carries himself. (Obviously being a good player helps). He seems very mature, the type of person others will follow with confidence. And everything I read on him after he was picked indicated he was a leader at Rutgers. How that translates to the NFL level is obviously yet to be seen.

Here are a few links I got from Googling "Devin McCourty leader."

McCourty embraces captain’s responsibility | Scarlet Scuttlebutt
Daily Targum - McCourty embodies leadership with all-around performance
Round 1, Pick 27: Patriots Select Devin McCourty, CB, Rutgers | patriots.football-news-update.com
2010 NFL Draft Player Profile: Devin McCourty | NFL Soup
Devin McCourty | Rutgers Scouting Report - 2010 NFL Draft Prospect
2010 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Devin McCourty | NFL News, Rumors, Scores, Predictions, and Stats
Devin McCourty looks to make his own name for the Scarlet Knights | Rutgers University Football - - Rutgers University Football - NJ.com

 

[PatsFanSince74]

This is quite an admission.

I guess the question now is whether Brady and a revitalized Wilfork and a few others can provide the kind of leadership that is needed, while the newer guys, mentioned earlier in this thread, earn the right to lead. Getting rid of Adalius was definitely addition by subtraction as well.

What is truly interesting to me in reading Brady's comments these last ten days is that even an HC with BB's credentials doesn't, on his own, command the kind of respect I'd think he would. That tells us how tough that job is and suggests how quickly players, who weren't there to share it, discount past successes; it's definitely a "What have you done for me lately" (with the emphasis on "for me") League.

 

[Modest]

I've been frantically trying to find the video of him losing his **** on Galloway on the sidelines. You can clearly see Brady screaming "it's not that ******* hard!" and I'm pretty sure Galloway was benched immediately after.

LOL please post that here or send it in a PM if you find it.

 

[Ian]

I think leadership starts with a sense of the person; I've been impressed with how he speaks, how he carries himself. (Obviously being a good player helps). He seems very mature, the type of person others will follow with confidence. And everything I read on him after he was picked indicated he was a leader at Rutgers. How that translates to the NFL level is obviously yet to be seen.

Here are a few links I got from Googling "Devin McCourty leader."

McCourty embraces captain’s responsibility | Scarlet Scuttlebutt
Daily Targum - McCourty embodies leadership with all-around performance
Round 1, Pick 27: Patriots Select Devin McCourty, CB, Rutgers | patriots.football-news-update.com
2010 NFL Draft Player Profile: Devin McCourty | NFL Soup
Devin McCourty | Rutgers Scouting Report - 2010 NFL Draft Prospect
2010 NFL Draft Scouting Report: Devin McCourty | NFL News, Rumors, Scores, Predictions, and Stats
Devin McCourty looks to make his own name for the Scarlet Knights | Rutgers University Football - - Rutgers University Football - NJ.com

These are actually some pretty good reads - thanks for posting these.