Brady on D&C: MVP doesn't make sense

Tom Brady joined guest hosts Bob Ryan and Troy Brown on the Dennis & Callahan show Monday morning for his weekly WEEI Patriots Monday appearance, one day after leading the Patriots to a 34-3 rout of the Bills to clinch the AFC East title and home field throughout the AFC playoffs.

Brady has gone 319 passes without throwing an interception, an NFL record. "As much as everyone points to me for that, so much of that goes into what we're doing offensively," he said. "With the protection that I get from the offensive line, I'm really never forced into rushing throws. Also, we've been ahead a lot of these games, so you really don't need to jam the ball into those tight areas that you would if you were really desperate in the second half, trying to get back. The receivers have done a great job of securing the catches. There's a lot that goes into it.

"It's been pretty great — we were talking about it this morning — for the last I think seven games or something like that, we've gotten the ball 22 times off turnovers and haven't given it up once. I think that's a pretty impressive stat just from an overall team basis. All the guys work pretty hard at it. As you know, Troy, that's something that's preached every day, is turnovers and securing the ball. I think that's really why we've been winning these games. So, that's going to need to continue."

Asked what should be expected from Sunday's season-ending game vs. the Dolphins that has no playoff implications, Brady said: "I'm not sure, obviously, but I'll tell you this: It's not going to surprise me one bit for us to go out there and to do everything we can to win this game. I think that's just the way [Bill Belichick] has been approaching things all year. I would expect nothing different from that."

Brady indicated he wants to play every minute of every game. "Of course. That's the best part of the week, to be out there playing," he said.

Talking about the MVP race, Brady said: "My feeling as always is most valuable player in a team sport, to me, that doesn't make a lot of sense. I can understand the most valuable golfer or something like that. Michael Vick, he's a great player. He's the best player for that team. He fits what they do well. And Peyton Manning fits what his team does well. Unfortunately, it's really a quarterback award. Not a lot of other great players get that recognition, which they probably should. There's so many great players in the league. I guess it's something that they have to do. The only award I ever care about is a Super Bowl ring. That's the only one that's important to me."

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].