Tom Brady, left, and Bill Belichick talk during a New England Patriots practice in 2018. Steven Senne/Associated Press
Any issues that once existed between Patriots Coach Bill Belichick and retired quarterback Tom Brady appear to be water under the bridge.
Belichick was asked Monday on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” about Week 1 when the Patriots will honor Brady during their season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Belichick sounds as excited as anyone to shower Brady with well-deserved praise.
“I’ve spoken to Tom a couple of times. Always look forward to talking to Tom and what a great experience and opportunity it was for me to coach Tom,” Belichick said in his weekly appearance on the radio. “Tremendous appreciation for everything he did for me, did for our team, everything he gave us. Look forward to seeing him. Sounds like he’s moving on to a very successful career in broadcasting and whatever else he decides to do. He’s a pretty talented guy, I’m sure he’ll do well in whatever he chooses to do, whatever area that is. So, look forward to seeing him and I’m sure there will be a lot of excitement at the game, in the stands as there should be.”
Brady announced his retirement this offseason after spending three seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady won six Super Bowls with Belichick as the two formed the greatest quarterback-head coach pairing in NFL history. The quarterback won one more Super Bowl with the Bucs.
“He’s done an awful lot for this organization, for this franchise, for this city, the National Football League,” Belichick continued on Brady. “One night’s really not enough, anywhere close to being enough for the appreciation for what Tom deserves. It was a great opportunity for me. I feel very fortunate to have coached Tom, Lawrence Taylor, Matt Slater. That’s the three top players at their position: offense, defense, special teams that I think in the history of the game. And that’s pretty – I feel pretty lucky as a coach. Great players make great coaches, and I’ve been very fortunate. There’s been a lot of great players along the way. I’m not taking anything away from anybody else. But those three are special.”
PATRIOTS CORNERBACK Isaiah Bolden suffered a head injury in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s preseason game at Green Bay, which was suspended shortly after he had to be immobilized and taken off on a stretcher.
Belichick offered an update on Bolden’s status Monday morning, a day after the Patriots announced Bolden had been released from the hospital and would fly back with the team to New England.
“I talked to Isaiah yesterday, and he’s in good spirits,” Belichick said on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.” “(He’s) recovering, obviously. So we’ll just take it day to day. Just take it day to day. But certainly (he) seems a lot better today than it looked like Saturday night, so that’s a good thing. It’s good for him to fly back with the team and everyone to see him. He’s got a lot of support here.”
A source told the Boston Herald that Bolden has a concussion. According to the NFL Network, Bolden woke up Sunday with a headache. His timeline for a possible return is unknown.
Bolden’s situation partially motivated Belichick to cancel previously scheduled joint practices at Tennessee on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Patriots will still play the Titans in their preseason finale Friday, but instead practice on their own this week in Foxboro.
“(I) just felt like, for a number of reasons, it was the best thing to do for the team. I talked to Robert (Kraft) and Jonathan (Kraft) about it, and we all collectively felt like that was the best thing to do,” Belichick said. “There’s a number of factors involved but, obviously, the seriousness of the injury was part of it.”
Belichick also remarked about the work of the Patriots’ medical staff, which attended to Bolden immediately after he went down. The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder collapsed to the turf after absorbing a collision with teammate Calvin Munson early in Saturday’s fourth quarter.
“I thought it was really impressive just watching the situation, the doctors,” Belichick said. “There’s Dr. (Scott) Martin and Dr. (Gian) Corrado, who’s an emergency doctor, Jim Whalen – those guys were right on top of it. I walked out there to see, and I don’t know anything, but just watching them and the way they handled it all was fantastic.”
BELICHICK LET MAC JONES have it on the sideline during a Patriots practice in Green Bay last week after the coach didn’t like what he saw from his quarterback or the offense during a two-minute drill.
It caused quite the stir online, especially with Jones and Belichick’s relationship being a topic of discussion throughout the offseason and training camp. It also brought back memories of 2022 when Jones would have sideline outbursts when he was visibly frustrated with how things were going with the Patriots.
Jones shouldered the blame for last week’s ear full from Belichick, chalking it up to a “miscommunication between all of us” and a “good learning experience.” Belichick said during his appearance on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” on Monday that things just needed to be corrected and it was “just coaching.”
The third-year quarterback had similar sentiments when he was asked about getting yelled at by Belichick.
“I just felt like it was his normal voice,” Jones said during his weekly appearance on WEEI’s “Jones & Mego” on Monday. “I think it’s good. I think it’s more about just getting the message and clear everything up on that situation. But it was just like a super detailed thing.”
Belichick’s message clearly got through to Jones and the offense. The next day, the Patriots had what many described as their best practice. It was competitive and Jones especially turned in one of his better practice performances.
Jones and the Patriots will look to carry that same momentum in this week of practice at Gillette Stadium before they wrap up their preseason with a game against the Tennessee Titans on Friday night.
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