I’ve been reading your posts. Haven’t responded because you’re clearly fixated and dogmatic, but I’ll chime in now to say I saw evidence of both physical and mental declines.
Physical decline was I think partly processing speed, seemed his reactions were a twitch slower. And that’s in the pocket, not just on throws. Most of all though it was that he seemed more affected by wear and tear, minor injuries and dings having more effect and not bouncing back from them the way he used to when he was younger. I’ve seen lots of suggestions that apparent decline in performance might have been nagging injuries, but minor injuries becoming nagging injuries is a part of the physical decline due to aging.
Mental decline I think evidenced in a couple of ways. It’s arguable how much might have been blamed on those around him, but I thought he generally didn’t look as sharp in responding to game play. Reactions were a twitch slower, timing wasn’t as sharp, most importantly his ability to adjust and make those around him better wasn’t there. That last has been a hallmark of his career and he lost it last year. That might tie to the other area I think showed mental decline, and that’s his emotional resilience or lack thereof. He seemed to get flustered when things didn’t go well and let that affect his chemistry with the teammates on the field with him. He also seemed to get caught up and upset by things off the field, like AB. I think he knew he was leaving and maybe checked out a bit early, ver much unlike the Brady of the past. Generally just not the same reaction to events and that showed up in his performance on the field.
