Younger Belichicks will always have Brady’s back
As he rose from unknown backup to living legend, Tom Brady touched a lot of lives over his 20 years in New England.
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His success, forever intertwined with the Patriots, most notably helped cement Bill Belichick as the greatest coach in NFL history. It also impacted Belichick’s sons, Steve and Brian, now assistants on the defensive staff. At the start of Brady’s career, they were just children lucky enough to live at the intersection of football greatness.
On Tuesday, both coaches explained how Brady impacted them, and why they still pull for No. 12.
“I learned a lot from him on and off the field that I really can’t thank him enough for,” Steve Belichick said Tuesday. “I spent a lot of time with him in the building, outside of the building, on the plane, on the way home from games. He was such a good resource for me running the scout team against him. Just all the things that Tom does well — which is everything — I am very blessed to have been around him for as long as I was.”
Brian Belichick, several years younger than Steve and in his second season as safeties coach, added: “Tom is always an amazing role model for me. As a person, seeing a guy like that, how hard he works, how committed he was to his craft and to the team, his leadership, all of it. It was a great example to be able to see as I was growing up and coming up in the organization.”
Brian relayed a story about catching passes as an 8-yearold from Brady after a team practice. In 2000, Brady was a fourth-string backup, and Bill Belichick asked him to stay late to help Brian learn the wide receiver route tree. So Brady called signals and threw passes to Brian, who ran every route and dove for deep balls onto a large mat.
On the ride home, Brian remembers thinking what the rest of the footballwatching world knows now.
“Once that happened, I was like, ‘Oh man. This is the best quarterback to ever live,’” he said.
Aside from Sunday, the younger Belichicks say they will always have Brady’s back.
“I’m a fan of a game, too, and in addition to being a fan, I like rooting for relationships and people I know. And Tom is as high on that list as anybody. I was very happy for him,” Steve Belichick said of Brady’s seventh Super Bowl win, after his first year in Tampa. “It was well-deserved. I’ll never root against Tom.”
Fears: ‘That SOB is the enemy’
During separate video calls Tuesday, most members of the Patriots’ coaching staff shared their thoughts on Brady returning to Foxboro for Sunday night’s showdown with the Buccaneers
Running backs coach Ivan Fears may have captured the overall sentiment best.
“I love Tom Brady. I always have. I spent 20 years with the young guy. I’m very honored to have been a part of the team with him. I still think he’s the greatest. But right now, that SOB is the enemy,” Fears said. “I miss him as a person. Right now I’m happy for him, for the success he’s had. And I’m looking forward to trying to beat his butt. That’s what counts. That’s all that matters right now. We’re going after each other.”
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has seen a slew of former Patriots come back to Foxboro as opponents and has a pretty good idea what to expect.
“I have coached against a lot of people we used to coach, a lot of coaches that I used to coach with, there is always an added sentiment to the game emotionally,” said McDaniels. “I would not expect that game to be any different. I know what the atmosphere will feel like Sunday night. I know he will be ready to go, I know we will be ready to go.”
Troy Brown, who played with Brady during his first three championship seasons, thinks it will be somewhat odd seeing him on the other sideline.
“It’s a little bit awkward, but at the end of the day, it’s still about competing and going against each other. That’s what it comes down to,” Brown said. “I mean, I know I’m not playing, but still, you’re approaching the game as we do every other team around the league is that we do everything we can to prepare for what they have. We’ll approach this game the same way, not because Tom Brady is Tom Brady or whatever it is, because it’s the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.”
Learn from mistakes
With the season off to a bumpy 1-2 start, it’s critical to McDaniels that Mac Jones not let what has happened over the first three weeks affect his performance negatively going forward, and instead grow from it. He’s hoping Jones’ three turnover game won’t carry over into Sunday.
“You are going to have adversities,” said McDaniels. “You may have a bad quarter, may have a bad day, you may have a bad week, it doesn’t mean you can let that snowball into a bad season. Just taking as much as you can from each opportunity to learn. The adversities are sometimes our best teachers.”
High on Stevenson
Fears will decide the best way to try and make up for the loss of James White.
White, a team captain, third down back, and trusted pass protector in blitz pickup, is expected to be out indefinitely with a hip injury.
Brandon Bolden had the lion’s share of snaps after White departed in the second quarter against the Saints.
Fears made it sound like the backs would collectively take over elements of the role, and “share in replacing James White’s duties.”
By the sound of it, rookie Rhamondre Stevenson, who has been a healthy scratch the past two weeks, could be part of the solution.
“He has made big improvements on the stuff we asked him to make improvements on, and we’re kind of happy with him,” said Fears. “So we’re kind of excited to see if he can pick up a new role here. Maybe he can pick up some of the stuff James was doing. We’ll throw it at him this week and see what sticks at practice. See what he can handle.”