FOXBORO, Mass. — If anyone is worried that Tom Brady will get bogged down by Tebowmania, stop right now.
Brady had the perfect answer when asked if Tim Tebow would cause a distraction in Foxboro: “I don’t worry about much these days.”
“I’ve been around long enough to see all different kinds of things happen like trades, people being cut, guys join the team, all the media attention, what happened in 2007, post-Super Bowls, tough losses,” Brady continued. “It comes with the territory. So I think everyone is prepared to deal with different things that happen on a daily basis. And to be mentally tough enough to push through and still be able to do your job at a high level is most important. That’s what you really owe the team to show up every day and do your job the best you can.”
Brady said he has a high level of respect for Tebow from what he’s seen him do in the past. He also said that the new quarterback has been picking his brain on the practice field during minicamp.
“Yeah, there’s definitely been communication and there’s been that with Tim and with Ryan [Mallett] and we constantly talk,” Brady said. “I’ve been lucky to talk to so many great quarterbacks over the course of my career. And I’ve learned from everyone starting with Drew [Bledsoe] and Damon Huard and John Friesz and Michael Bishop, Jim Miller and Vinny [Testaverde] and [Doug] Flutie and [Matt] Cassel and [Brian] Hoyer. It’s really been — we’ve always had a very strong group and a very close group. I’m excited to have Tim.”
Brady said it’s been fun welcoming Tebow to the team. Tebow has been shadowing both quarterbacks on the field, while mixing in some reps himself. We’ve seen Tebow and Brady talking on the field on numerous occasions.
“Certainly any time a new teammate comes in, you welcome him and you try to do whatever you can to help them fit in and understand what we need to do,” Brady said. “It’s been a fun couple days.”
Brady didn’t want to talk about having to come off the field if the team decides to run any special packages with Tebow. In the past, Tebow has been used as a wildcat quarterback. While with the Jets, Mark Sanchez would line up at wide receiver on occasion. Brady said he has no idea what his reaction would be if Tebow came in and Brady had to sit on the bench.
“That’s a very hypothetical question,” Brady said. “Maybe we’ll deal with it if it happens.”
Right now, it looks like Tebow is entrenched as the third quarterback. Brady and Mallett have taken the majority of the reps while Tebow works with the third team. Last season, the Patriots only carried Brady and Mallett on the 53-man roster. In the year prior, the Patriots had Brady, Mallett and Hoyer on the roster, so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities for the Patriots to carry three signal callers.
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