Tom Brady has not been very Tom Brady -like this season. The New England Patriots quarterback was able to silence a number of critics as the team went on to route the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday Night Football. However, the idea that Brady is not thrilled with the current status of the team is known and reports that he might move on cannot be overlooked. As the Patriots finally appeared to get things moving on offense in Week 5, is Brady still unhappy with the overall team dynamic?
ESPN's Chris Mortensen stirred the rumor mill up on Sunday when he reported that Brady and the Patriots' coaching staff have mounting tension which could influence the quarterback's future. Mortensen wrote that Brady was unhappy with the idea that Jimmy Garoppolo was being groomed as his replacement and the quarterback felt that with his recent struggles, he was getting pushed out of the door.
Brady has been very critical of the Patriots' offense which has downsized in recent seasons. He noted that the unit simply did not have the talent level to be a high-scoring offense. Despite adding receivers like Danny Amendola, Brandon LaFell and Tim Wright in the past two seasons, Brady says it simply is not enough. However, after beating the Bengals, he was singing a different tune.
"I love all those guys, my coaches,'' Brady said, via ESPN.com. "I've never had any tension with them, truthfully. It's unfortunate that some things get said and talked about, especially when they don't come from me, and I think that's the -- when you're in the middle of an especially tough week with our team to deal with things that are really outside football that are very personal -- very personal relationships that I've built up for a long time.''
Brady's teammates defended their quarterback following the win. Despite his criticism, tight end Rob Gronkowski stood behind the talent of Brady and denied the idea of any locker room tension after the slow start to the season.
"I told my brother before we came to the game, 'I'm going to make 12 look like Tom Brady again today, baby!'" Gronkowski said. "And I went out there with my teammates and we made Tom Brady look like Tom Brady after you guys were criticizing him all week, the fans, everything. It feels so good. He's such a leader. He went over 50,000 yards today. He's an unbelievable player, and I'm so glad to play with him."
For now, Brady stays out and the idea that he is going anywhere any time soon is unlikely. The quarterback is the franchise star of the Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick simply laughed off any idea that Brady would be headed elsewhere. Of course anything could happen, but do not expect a marquee trade involving Brady any time soon.
