Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. Ready to seize his chance: Becoming a starting quarterback in the NFL is hard enough. Filling the void created by Tom Brady’s free-agent departure makes it that much harder.
Jarrett Stidham is the leading candidate to fill that role, and his former coach, Auburn’s Gus Malzahn, believes he has the makeup to succeed.
TAMPA, Fla. — For the first time in over two decades, six-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady is the new kid on the block — playing for a new team in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in a new offense with new teammates. Well, mostly new teammates.
Brady will have longtime favorite target Rob Gronkowski to ease the transition. But to help Brady’s new squad get better acquainted with him, ESPN spoke to a number of former teammates for tips on how best to work with Brady.
Lesson 1: Don’t get caught ‘Brady-watching’
Former linebacker Tedy Bruschi, who was with the Patriots for four seasons before Brady’s arrival and played with the quarterback from 2000 to ’08, cautioned against falling into the trap of believing Brady can be the savior every Sunday, or what he calls “Brady-watching.” You can see it when a receiver drops a pass or a safety gives up a touchdown early in the fourth quarter but doesn’t feel a sense of urgency.
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“They need to get over Brady-watching. Because they get to the sideline and all of a sudden it’s like, ‘It’s OK, Tom will bail us out.’ That’s what I call Brady-watching,” Bruschi said.
Brady’s 45 game-winning drives from 2000 to ’19 are the most of any quarterback in history.
“I’ll be watching that early on with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, if they’re Brady-watching or if they feel themselves as a team that everything is important, and not just when that guy right there is under center and everything is gonna magically happen,” Bruschi said.
Brady also needs to know what players are seeing from the defense. If a safety is cheating on a high corner route, Brady needs to know the tight end won’t be able to run that route but could instead run a bench route.
“Take ownership of your role just as much as he takes ownership of his role,” Fauria said. “He’s gonna hold you accountable, but you need to hold him accountable. … It’s not a dictatorship, it’s a partnership. … He’s on a new team with new players and it’s their offense — it’s not his offense. … He’s gonna have to learn just as much from them as they’re gonna have to learn from him.
“There needs to be a lot of compromise and understanding and patience with how this relationship is developed. It’s not a one-way street. … There is a level of expectation and excellence that I think everybody strives for, but the fact is, he can’t do it by himself. He’s never done it by himself. … The more you work at it and practice it and understand what he wants you to do when you both see it the same way — that’s how it develops into a championship mentality.”
Lesson 4: Brady demands perfection from teammates and himself
For former guard Rich Ohrnberger, who was a fourth-round pick by the Patriots in 2009, every practice felt like a game. You were expected to compete the way Brady did, and if you made a mistake, he would point it out.
“There was an expert at all things football just feet behind you,” Ohrnberger said. “If you were having a lackadaisical day, he’d pick on you, he’d find you and make life tough for you.”
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he’s talked with cornerback Bashaud Breeland and seen the video of his arrest on multiple charges Tuesday in South Carolina. He said the team would wait before deciding whether to take any measures against Breeland.
“We’ll let it play out with the law enforcement side of things and evaluate it from there,” Reid said.
Bashaud Breeland faces five total charges, including resisting arrest and drug possession, after he was seen smoking marijuana in a car late Tuesday. The Chiefs say they will let the legal process play out before any action by them. Rich Graessle/PPI/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
“Let’s see exactly what went on,” Reid said. “I know there is video out there. I’ve seen the video. I’ve talked to the kid. Let’s find out what the pace of this was and what caused everything to take place. I’m curious to see that part, as we all are, and then we’ll evaluate it from there.”
TMZ published a video from one of the witnesses to Breeland’s arrest at a gas station in Fort Mill, S.C.
Breeland, 28, faces charges of resisting arrest, having alcohol in a motor vehicle with the seal broken, having an open container of beer or wine in a motor vehicle, possession of 28 grams or less of marijuana or 10 grams of hash, and driving without a license.
He was released from the York County jail on $2,362.50 bond on Tuesday night.
The Chicago Bears have reached a one-year deal with free-agent wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr., a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Thursday.
Ginn ranks 25th in NFL history with 15,685 all-purpose yards — including 5,702 receiving yards, nearly 10,000 kickoff and punt return yards and 42 total touchdowns.
Although his career got off to a slow start with the Miami Dolphins as the No. 9 overall pick in the 2007 draft, the 5-foot-11, 180-pound Ginn has maintained his reputation as one of the NFL’s fastest players throughout his 13-year career with the Dolphins, San Francisco 49ers, Carolina Panthers, Arizona Cardinals and New Orleans Saints.
