Patriots assistant on Tom Brady: ‘He’s the greatest, but right now that SOB is the enemy’

During separate video calls with reporters on Tuesday, most members of the Patriots’ coaching staff shared their thoughts on Tom Brady returning to Foxboro for Sunday night’s highly-anticipated 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, before later adding: “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.”

Josh McDaniels, who was the Patriots’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for 13 of Brady’s 20 seasons, never had a doubt the quarterback would succeed in Tampa, and continue to defy his age.

“Super impressed, not surprised. I think there is a difference between the two,” McDaniels said of Brady’s play. “I would never put anything past him in terms of accomplishing anything in this game, so it doesn’t surprise me at all that he has been able to acclimate and play the style of football that they are playing and to play it as well as he is playing.”

McDaniels has seen a slew of former Patriots come back to Foxboro as opponents and has a pretty good idea what to expect, even with Sunday being the most anticipated return in NFL history.

“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, and was on the coaching staff during the GOAT’s later years, 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. They have a really good football team all around.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2WoyrYy