FOXBORO — Tom Brady isn’t stupid.
After seeing what the Bills and Jets did in the first two games of the regular season, he knows the word is out around the league: Blitz the quarterback and you can beat the Patriots. The Bills sacked him once, but hit him six times. The Jets didn’t sack him, but they pressured or hit Brady 23 times.
In both of those games, Brady was under serious pressure. It almost worked for the Bills (Buffalo led by 11 midway through the fourth quarter before a late New England comeback) and it really worked for the Jets, whose pressure kept the Patriots out of the end zone all game for the first time since 2006.
“He looked frustrated,” New York defensive end Shaun Ellis said of Brady, who was hurried many times. “I could see it in his eyes. His eyes were wide open. I looked in his eyes a few times. He was trying to figure out where everyone was coming from.”
So, when the quarterback met the media for his weekly press conference on Wednesday, he didn’t mince words. He knows what’s coming when the Falcons (who have hit the quarterback eight times and have five sacks through two games) visit Gillette on Sunday. And he has a pretty good idea how to beat it.
“We’re expecting the blitz,” Brady said. “Of course, they hit me a few times, but they always do. It’s just about completing more passes and getting the ball to the guys who can do something with it.
“[Opponents are] going to do whatever they think they need to do to win,” he added. “If they want to blitz, that means they’re singling [out] some guys and we’ve got to get the ball to those guys. I think that’s how you defeat the blitz.”
Brady, speaking in front of his locker to a horde of media, touched on a variety of other issues, but acknowledged Wednesday that while he took some positives out of Sunday’s loss, he is not completely comfortable with where he is mechanically. Not yet, anyway.
“I think that’s something that I’m always working on, focusing on and trying to improve on,” he said. “There are some positive things that I took out of the last game, in terms of my mechanics and driving the ball. It’s still not where I’m 100 percent comfortable where the mechanics are at, but that’s why I’m still working at it.”
He’s also still working on developing a rapport with his receivers. There were several occasions Sunday where he did not appear to be in sync with his receivers, including Randy Moss. And while Joey Galloway did haul in his first catch of the season (and ended up with five receptions for 53 yards), the veteran and Brady appeared to struggle with their communication.
On Wednesday, Brady defended Galloway, saying the two have a “great relationship” and that Galloway has been working “extremely hard.”
“Every relationship with a receiver is different,” Brady said. “With some people, it’s very seamless. With others, you’ve got to put extra work in.
“[Galloway’s] been in the league for a long time and he’s been in the league a long time for a reason. That’s because he’s professional, and he’s added a lot to this offense.”
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