FOXBORO, Mass. — New England Patriots linebacker/fullback/quote machine Elandon Roberts was flattered by Tom Brady’s social media shoutout.
After last Saturday’s win over the Buffalo Bills, Brady celebrated his open-field block on cornerback Tre’Davious White by echoing Roberts, who’d offered an incredible, profane evaluation of his own playing style during his postgame media scrum.
“I’ll run through a ************* face,” Brady wrote in posts on his various social platforms, tagging Roberts. “offense, defense, special teams.. don’t matter.”
I’ll run through a ************* face.. offense, defense, special teams.. don’t matter – @Roberts_52 pic.twitter.com/T6kYia4c7N
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) December 22, 2019
Asked about Brady’s shoutout after Thursday’s Patriots practice, Roberts smiled.
“Tom’s crazy,” he said. “I saw it. … Tom’s funny, man. But I think he was about his quote, man. I think Tom really wants to play special teams and stuff, he just ain’t been able to yet. And defense, man. I feel like Tom would be a good safety, man. Tom get at the corner. Or he might be a good linebacker, too — Tom sticks his head in.
“But right now, I think Tom’s good where he’s at.”
As entertaining as it would be to see 42-year-old Brady patrol the secondary, that’s probably smart thinking.
Teammates for the last four seasons, Roberts and Brady have worked together much more closely this year as multiple injuries at fullback have prompted a position switch for the hard-hitting linebacker. In addition to his duties on defense and special teams, Roberts has played at least one offensive snap in eight of the Patriots’ nine games, including a career-high 21 against the Bills.
