Brady on D&C: 'I don't get any calls'

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady made his weekly appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show Tuesday morning, two days after leading the Patriots to a 49-21 comeback victory over the Bills.

While there was concern that the Patriots fell behind by three touchdowns to an inferior opponent for the second straight week, Brady said the team never lost its confidence.

"I don't think what's in our mind [when down 21-0] is, 'We're going to lose, we're going to lose, we're going to lose,' " he said. "You don't think about that. You think you're going to win. You think you're going to pull the game out. You have confidence that if you play for four quarters and you play hard and you make more plays than the other team, then at the end of the 60 minutes you're going to win the game. Believe me, we all wish we were up 21-0 instead of down 21-0. But if we're down 21-0 we still have confidence that we can come back and win the game."

Added Brady: "I don't think anyone can put a finger on exactly what it is. But we've won eight straight, we feel very good about that. We continue to make improvements. We've certainly showed that we can score points. And when we get a lead on teams, we don't usually give that up. There's been a lot of positives to take from the last eight weeks."

The Patriots head into the playoffs trying to avoid a repeat of the past two seasons, when they lost their opening game at home both times. Brady insisted those two games have no effect on this team.

"They're two totally different teams in two totally different years against two totally different opponents that really has no impact on this next week's game," he said. "It's a completely different team that we have and probably the team that we'll face. To me, it's very pointless to talk about something that happened a year ago, like it's going to have any impact on what's going to happen in two weeks. Because it really won't."

Following are more highlights from the interview.

On what individual accomplishment he is most proud of this season: "I'm happy I was out there to start 16 weeks. I think that's what I'm probably most proud of, that I was able to be there for my teammates and come out every week and start the game. To be durable and to try to be a consistent player on our team, that's probably what I'm most proud of."

On if he gets favorable treatment from officials after a questionable call on a Bills player for pushing him: "I haven't gotten any calls all year. That was maybe my first call all year. I don't think I've gotten any roughing or any of that. I know, it's funny, because people say that. I don't get any calls. ... Receivers get calls, DBs get calls. But when a quarterback gets calls, there's some big issue with it. Everyone's bitching about quarterbacks getting calls. There's linemen that hold and don't get called. There's D-linemen that hold and don't get called. It's part of the game."

On the possibility that offensive coordinator Billy O'Brien will take a job elsewhere: "I haven't thought about it. I really don't know what the situation is with Billy. He's been a great coach and a friend of mine. I don't think anyone really knows what's going to happen. I hope he's here for a long time, but everyone gets different opportunities. No one really knows how those opportunities, what will really pan out."

On if he enjoyed the demise of the Jets: "Yeah, there's a few websites I like where they have all the New York papers. I read a few of those articles. I would be remiss not to. They had a tough year. I'm glad we beat them twice. That was a huge key to our season, that win against the Jets in the Meadowlands. We'll see them next year. They're not going anywhere. I'm sure they'll come back with just as much confidence next year."

For more highlights from the conversation, check the It Is What It Is blog [1]. To hear the interview, go to the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page [2]. For more Patriots news, visit the team page at weei.com/patriots [3].