Patriots not concerned with Brady’s absence
FOXBORO, MA » From Tom Brady’s perspective, part of staying away from the Patriots’ voluntary offseason program has been about spending more time with his family. But it’s also been about making sure that when he does eventually rejoin his teammates, he’s refreshed, rejuvenated and an even better player and teammate.
That was the message he delivered during a recent appearance at the Milken Institute Global Conference in California, as he explained why he’s taking a different approach this offseason.
While there’s been some criticism of the quarterback for missing the first four weeks of the program, which is now into the phase where Brady would be allowed to throw to receivers but not against a defense, several of his former teammates believe he’s doing the right thing.
Drew Bledsoe supported No. 12 last week when interviewed before the Celtics game on Wednesday night. Rodney Harrison and Matt Light, reached Thursday, also backed the five-time Super Bowl winning quarterback.
Harrison didn’t see it as being detrimental to the team. He actually saw it as more of a positive in the long run, especially if Brady comes back recharged and in a better frame of mind.
“I think he has to do what’s best for him. If that means staying away from voluntary camp, and that means spending time with his family, and doing some of those type of things, I think he’s earned that in his career,” the former safety said. “I think he’s earned that leverage, and I think it’s smart of him to do that. After so many years, it becomes monotonous. Making family a priority, it’s very important to him, it’s something he wants to do, he wants to be a part of their day-today activities, I think it’s the right thing to do for him. I think he’ll be fine. I think it’s the smart thing to do if that’s what he feels like he has to do. He’ll be in a better place mentally.”
Light agreed, and believes Brady will be back for the mandatory camp which runs June 5-7. Brady’s former blind-side protector also sees this as an opportunity for oth- ers to set the tone.
“Look, after 17 years, 18 years, if they’re still looking to No. 12 to motivate them during the offseason, if you’re a rookie or whoever, if 12’s on the roster, that’s all the motivation you should need,” Light said. “If for nothing else, it’s going to force some other guys to be a little more vocal, or pick up where Tommy might have been out there leading the charge. But I don’t see any issue or problem. Tom Brady doesn’t need to have the offseason workouts and face time in that facility at this point in his career He’s earned the right (to be away).”
The offseason workouts don’t really pick up in earnest until May 21, when 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 are permitted, albeit without live contact. It’s the stage commonly referred to as “passing camp,” with the Patriots typically working on situational football — red zone, twominute and hurry-up — and where Brady usually starts to establish chemistry and rapport with his new teammates.
Light said if Brady doesn’t attend the third phase, he’ll still be fine with the new guys.
“The countless hours they put in, if they can’t figure out between August and the beginning of September, let’s just put it this way . . . they will figure it out,” said Light.
Josh McDaniels didn’t knock Brady or Rob Gronkowski for their absences when asked on Friday about being without the two stars the first four weeks, and potentially longer. The offensive coordinator, of course, has to be diplomatic, especially when it comes to Brady.
Harrison still went back to the bottom line.
“He’ll be able to find a rhythm with the new players. That won’t be hard,” he said. “But it won’t matter how good those receivers are, or those running backs, if the quarterback isn’t on point. Tom is the chief. If he feels like he has to take more time to get rejuvenated, to get peace of mind, whatever else that brings to him, he has to do whatever he has to do. That’s the No. 1 thing.”
There’s also the notion Brady is staying away partially due to friction with Bill Belichick, who bounced Alex Guerrero from most of the privileges Brady’s body coach once enjoyed inside Gillette Stadium. Brady has leverage he’s now starting to use.
Harrison said don’t read too much into that. Sure, coach and player have disagreements. At the end of the day, it’s still about winning.
“In any business, you’re not going to be 100 percent with anybody. I don’t know why people get so upset,” said Harrison. “You’re going to have friction in the workplace, you’re going to have disagreements. But there’s a mutual respect because everyone’s working extremely hard, everyone’s knowledgeable, everyone’s been successful, and everyone wants to continue to win. And it’s OK, because that’s when the competitiveness comes out, and those guys, when you have rifts, those guys have rifts because they want to get better not because they’re fighting. They just want to get better.
“I’ve had disagreements with Belichick. Everyone has. It’s just life.”
Hardly campaigning Voting for the Patriots 2018 Hall of Fame selection ends tomorrow at 5 p.m., with Light a candidate alongside Richard Seymour and Mike Vrabel.
Light, of course, was thrilled just being in the running.
“Whatever happens, it’s all good,” he said. “I’m not too hellbent on getting into things of that nature, but if it happened, it would be an awesome thing for my family and kids and friends and all that good stuff.”
Played a quick game of word association with Light. Asked him the first word that came to mind when thinking about Patriots tackle Trent Brown. His response? “Ginormous.”
It’s an information game McDaniels said what the Patriots do during prospect interviews isn’t always geared toward the draft. It’s stockpiling information about players they might acquire down the road, or even play against.
“One thing I’ve learned about this process, it’s not always about who’s on your team this year,” he said. “You gather information . . . we gathered information on Jordan Matthews, for example, four years ago. Now we have him. It’s a process, it doesn’t just stop at the draft. There’s a lot of information you can gain about people just so you have it moving forward.”
Asked why it was important to see Baker Mayfield and which category that fell into, it was somewhere between doing due diligence on a longshot and scouting a future opponent.
“Yeah, we try to turn every stone over. I think that’s the right thing to do,” he said. “We’ve always felt like that’s the right thing to do. We’ve always felt like that position is an important position.” Barkley boost
Curtis Martin gave the Giants pick of Saquon Barkley a huge endorsement in remarks to NJ Advance Media.
“In my opinion, he’s the most talented, from an athletic standpoint,” the Hall of Famer said of his fellow running back, whom the Giants took No. 2 out of Penn State. “I don’t think there’s anyone who came out this year who is more talented. Maybe in the last few years.”
Martin added Barkley has the best chance among his field to develop into a top player in the NFL.
“I think what makes him different is his unique combination,” Martin said. “Guys usually with that build, who are that good of runners, they’re not usually that good a receiver out of the backfield, because of the way they’re built. They’re not nimble enough to be a good receiver. He has that.”