PATS OFFENCE LIVES UP TO HYPE IN BROWN’S CONTROVERSIAL DEBUT
Petulant star being sued for sexual assault scores first TD in blowout win over Miami
Yup. Like lighting the afterburner on one of the world’s premier jet engines, wide receiver Antonio Brown’s addition has indeed made the New England Patriots even more powerful.
Doubters were blindly clinging to hope. We all have our opinions on Brown, the man. Granted. But as a football player, when he’s not pouting, he’s something else.
In New England’s 43-0 obliteration of the lowly host Miami Dolphins on Sunday and just eight days after agreeing to terms with the Patriots following his self-orchestrated dismissal from the Oakland Raiders, Brown led all receivers and yardage gainers of any kind in the first half with four catches on four targets for 56 yards and the half’s only touchdown reception, a 20-yarder from Tom Brady.
Brown should have had a second touchdown midway through the third quarter, when on a third-and-seven from the Miami 10-yard line, the 31-year-old blew right past Dolphins cornerback Eric Rowe with a great juke at the snap. But Brady threw a straight-line lob well short into the end zone and Rowe broke it up.
Brady probably isn’t used to Brown’s exceptional short-range burst. Expect Brady to calibrate accordingly.
So, all in all, not a bad debut for Brown considering he practised only three times with Brady and Co. over the last week.
After the game, Brady was asked off the top about Brown’s instant production. As he and his head coach Bill Belichick have done now for 20 seasons, Brady tried continually to take the spotlight off one particular player and spread the brightness everywhere.
“It was a good start. I was just trying to find the open guy,” said the 42-year-old, who completed 20 of 28 passes for 264 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. “He was snapping off some routes and did a great job. It was good to find him. Everyone contributed. Defence played great, as they’ve been doing.
“It’s good to be 2-0.”
The defending Super Bowl champions and three-time defending AFC champions don’t do victory dances so early in a season, not even when they’re playing as dominantly as they are in 2019. They’ve outscored their first two opponents 76-3.
“We have got a long way to go, we really do,” Brady said. “I feel like we haven’t been working together very long.”
He meant he and his NFL-best wide receiver corps, which is also composed of veterans Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon and Phillip Dorsett. That’s because Brady skipped all of the team’s voluntary spring workouts, Edelman missed much of August with a thumb injury and Gordon rejoined the team in mid-August after commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated him following years of on-and-off substance abuse problems.
“Just trying to get everyone into a rhythm,” Brady said.
Yeah. They’re not looking in sync much so far, are they?
Nine-time Patriots captain Devin McCourty, a defensive back, has faced Brown all decade. Brown spent his first nine NFL seasons with New England’s AFC rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Whereas he used to go up against Brown in games, now he does so in practice.
“He’s a good player,” McCourty said. “But we don’t go out there and stand 10 yards off him (in practice). We challenge him. We have fun. Between him, Jules (Edelman) and Josh Gordon, you’ve got three of the better receivers in the league. And that’s not to mention Phil Dorsett and the way he’s playing.
“You throw (Brown) into the mix and it was the same thing (as it’s always been) — battling. In every part of practice, 11-on-11, one-on-one, just trying to make everyone better. And I think when we do that it shows up when we get to the game.”
You better believe it.
The reason you haven’t read a quote in this story from Brown himself? It’s because, according to the Boston Globe, he cleared out of the locker-room before reporters were allowed in. The Patriots did not make Brown available at a podium, either.
That may have more than a little something to do with the fact that Britney Taylor, a former female personal trainer who worked with Brown, filed a civil lawsuit against him last week, claiming Brown sexually assaulted her on three occasions in 2017 and 2018.
A report Sunday claimed Taylor previously turned down a $2 million settlement offer.
Taylor is expected to meet with NFL investigators on Monday. JoKryk@postmedia.com twitter.com/JohnKryk