Bill Belichick and Tom Brady can insist time and time again that their relationship is fine, but that clearly won't put an end to the speculation.
The chatter of the bond between the legendary coach and quarterback ramped up in the last week, with Brady returning to Foxboro for the first time as a visitor while a book detailing their relationship started releasing eyebrow-raising excerpts.
While there wasn't much public interaction between Brady and Belichick on Sunday night, they did meet for a while privately.
And during an appearance Monday on WEEI, Belichick, once again, insisted things are fine between him Brady in response to a question about their relationship being overanlyzed.
"I don't know what everybody else thinks," Belichick said. "I know what my relationship is with Tom, and it's been a great one for 20 years."
By and large, there wasn't much acrimony in Brady's return to Gillette Stadium. The quarterback left the door open to possibly return in some capacity one day while being complimentary about Mac Jones and the state of the Patriots.
Things might feel a little weird now, but Brady and Belichick continue to assert that things are fine with them.
