FOXBORO, Mass. — If the Denver Broncos were trying to annoy the New England Patriots with their bulletin board material about Tom Brady, then they failed.
“I don’t think it gets under nobody’s skin,” wide receiver Brandon LaFell said Wednesday. “I just think it motivates us to go out there and make more plays for our quarterback. I don’t think Tom’s a crybaby. I think he’s a winner.”
Broncos defensive end Antonio Smith agreed with a reporter who called Brady a “crybaby” this week, and Malik Jackson called the Patriots quarterback a “whiner” who “throws temper tantrums.” The Patriots travel to Denver to take on the Broncos on Sunday at 3:05 p.m. ET in the AFC Championship Game.
“I’m not sure what other quarterbacks do,” Brady said. “If the refs want to throw the flag, I love when they throw flags on the defenders, absolutely. It advances our team. That’s just playing football.”
Brady certainly does turn to officials when he believes he was hit late or unnecessarily, but calling him a whiner or crybaby might do more harm than good.
“He doesn’t talk about it,” LaFell said. “He doesn’t complain or bring it up in this locker room, but at the end of the day, we know Tom is motivated by anything they say about him. I think every quarterback is — if they’re getting hit late or guys (are) going at their legs, they’re going to be whining too. That’s not whining, that’s protecting yourself. He’s not a whiner, he’s a winner, like I said.”
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, as per usual, was ignoring the noise.
“We’re focused on the Denver Broncos,” Belichick said. “All the rest of that is just a bunch of hot air.”
Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski threw out his own trash talk this week when he replied to a tweet saying the Broncos will go for his knees when tackling him.
It’s certainly not the Patriot Way, but it is the Gronk way.
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
