FOXBORO, Mass. — Tom Brady has battled back and forth with his newly improved defense throughout training camp, but Darrelle Revis stopped short of calling it a competition between the two units.
It’s tough to tell who’s had more success so far on the New England Patriots practice field. Brady will throw a touchdown over Revis’ head, and the newly signed cornerback will respond with an interception. All that matters to Revis is that it’s helping he and his quarterback improve.
“You know, Tom is — I’ll tell you what, it’s not because I’m his teammate — I played against him a number of years when I was in New York — he’s one of the best to ever play,” Revis said Friday night at Gillette Stadium after training camp practice. “You can see it even in practice by going against him every day. He’s a hard worker, and he brings the best out of you. It’s awesome, man.
“Going back and forth — I’m not going to call it a competition. We’re teammates, we’re just trying to get each other better, and we’re trying to work hard together. Sometimes he gets a play. It goes back and forth. The good thing about it is it’s great competition, and the only thing we can do is look at it as getting each other better and just going out there and working hard.”
The Patriots signed Revis to improve their defense, but if he helps improve their offense, which struggled at times in 2013, that’s an added bonus. Brady doesn’t have a tougher cornerback than Revis on the Patriots’ 2014 schedule, so games might seem easy to 36-year-old quarterback this fall.
Both players had most of the night off on Friday, as the Patriots gave most of their reps to the rookies and reserves. Revis still appreciated his first chance to step onto the Gillette Stadium turf in red, white and blue, however.
“It’s awesome man, it’s good for us to get our work in but it’s also to give the fans a show out here and come out here so they can see us practice,” Revis said. “It’s awesome man, they are having fun with it, and we are trying to have fun with it but also get work in.”
The Patriots will travel to Richmond, Va., for three joint practices against the Redskins next week before their first preseason game on Thursday. It will be interesting to see how Brady and Revis fare against some foreign competition.
