Tom Brady Masterfully Dodges Super Bowl Questions From Atlanta Media

Head coach Bill Belichick and one of his New England Patriots players hold conference calls with the opposing team’s media in the lead-up to each week’s game. These calls typically aren’t very illuminating or revealing.

Quarterback Tom Brady drew the short straw this week and held the weekly conference call with Atlanta reporters prior to Sunday night’s Patriots-Falcons matchup. Obviously, the Atlanta media had many questions about the Patriots’ Super Bowl LI win over the Falcons.

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski disclosed Wednesday that players have been instructed not to talk about that game this week. So, Brady did his best to sidestep questions Falcons reporters had about that game like he dodges (or attempts to dodge) pass rushers in the pocket — although he did divulge a few takeaways from New England’s historic Super Bowl comeback.

Here’s a partial transcript.

Q: What is your reaction to facing the Falcons again after your comeback in Super Bowl LI?

TB: Well, I think we’re both different teams. It’s just sitting here at the middle of the second quarter of the season and trying to improve. I know that’s what our focus has been on – trying to get better and be more consistent. It’s a very different group of guys. It’s different schemes and we’re playing different teams and challenges. That game was a long time ago. We had plenty of time to celebrate that. I think we’re just more focused on what we need to do in order to be ready to go this week.

Q: What did you learn from your Super Bowl losses and how did you cope with them?

TB: Well, I mean those games, they live with you the rest of your life – the wins and the losses. I mean, I think there’s obviously 18 years for me. I mean, there’s probably some games early in my career in the middle of October that I don’t really remember that well, but I would say the Super Bowl ones you always remember pretty well. I mean, there was a lot on the line. You know, it’s just the reality of it. I mean, as players, you hope you’re in that position. You’d rather be in that game than not be in that game, win or lose. It’s great to win and it sucks to lose, but that’s playing sports.

Q: In preparing to play the Falcons, is there anything you and the team can gain from the Super Bowl tape?

TB: Yeah, I think there’s something to be gained by looking at every bit of tape. I think seeing certain matchups and so forth, and I think the one thing you realize is how talented this Atlanta team is. I mean, they’ve got a lot of speed. They’re very aggressive. We were down in that game a big margin, obviously, and it’s because they were playing great football. They played great football all season last year. They were very close to winning some other games this year, like last week, so they very easily could be 4-1 and rolling. We’re expecting their best.

Q: Grady Jarrett was an issue rushing the passer in the Super Bowl, but do you see an evolution of growth in the Falcons pass rush this year from the entire group?

TB: I think they have a lot of speed and they’ve got a great rush. I mean, they gave us everything we could handle in the Super Bowl. They’ve got a lot of guys up front that can rush the quarterback, so we’ve got a big challenge ahead.