Belichick: Tom Brady and I 'had good relationship' during Patriots career originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
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There's going to be a lot of talk this week about the relationship between Tom Brady and Bill Belichick during the veteran quarterback's final years with the New England Patriots.
The Patriots head coach was asked several questions Monday morning regarding Brady and his decision to leave New England as a free agent in 2020.
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Belichick had plenty of good things to say about his former quarterback as he prepares to face Brady and the Bucs at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night.
“Tom and I had a -- I feel like a good relationship and a lot of production, obviously, while we were together," Belichick said during an interview with WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show". "And I enjoyed coaching Tom, and he was a great player for us."
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Belichick also made the point that the Patriots aren't just playing against Brady next week. The focus for his players needs to be on the entire roster of the defending Super Bowl champs, who have plenty of good players on both sides of the ball.
"Sunday night, we line up across from Tampa -- not just him, but the entire team. They’re obviously a good team," Belichick said. "So it’s all about our team competing against Tampa’s team. It’s like it is every week. But there’s guys on New Orleans -- you know, Chris Hogan -- there’s guys every week that have been on our team, or guys on our team that have been on the other team.
"Certainly Tom is a special player, I’m not trying to put him in the same category as a guy who was here for a year or something like that. But at the same time, you’re competing against the team you are playing against, and that’s what you do.”
Fans are placing a lot of importance on the matchup.
"It's the biggest game of all time for the regular season," said Pats fan Brian Bullen of Medway.
"Everybody wants to see Belichick against Tom Brady," said Lexie Bohmbach of Quincy. "I'm not excited, I'm, like, scared, it's like a bad break-up, you don't want to see your boyfriend come back and be with another hot girl."
"I hope it's a competitive game," said Patriots fan Bill Packard, who paid $1,400 for his ticket. "I hope we're not putting bags over our heads by the end of it."
Both the Patriots and Buccaneers will enter their much-anticipated Week 4 showdown coming off losses. The Patriots were beaten 28-13 by the Saints on Sunday, while the Bucs lost 34-24 to the Rams.
