Brown said he actually provided the younger players with a good life lesson last season when the Patriots deactivated him for the Week 8 game against Buffalo. It was the first healthy scratch of his career.
‘‘They were like, wow,’’ Brown said of the kids’ reaction. ‘‘They were shocked. You could tell they were more shocked than I was.
‘‘(When you get older) you realize you’re nobody special. Barry Foster, a tailback in Pittsburgh when I was there, he wasn’t the most ‘team guy’ in the world, but he had a saying, and it’s true: ‘Coach doesn’t love you.’ He cares about you and he wants you to do well for the team. But he doesn’t love you. He’s not going to pick you over somebody else who plays better than you. He’s not married to you.
‘‘So, realize that, and realize that it’s your work every day that gets you on the team and on the field and not because coach liked you last season. That doesn’t do anything for him this season.’’
