Brady: I Would’ve Booed Us, Too

Posted by Adam Hart January 10, 2010 at 8:45 pm

The boo birds were out early at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, and not without reason — the New England Patriots, plagued by poor play in all phases of the game, fell behind 24-0 in the first quarter.

Quarterback Tom Brady turned over the ball three times in the opening frame — on a strip-sack by Baltimore Ravens pass rusher Terrell Suggs and interceptions by Chris Carr and Ed Reed — resulting in a total of 17 points for the Ravens.

“I’d (have) been booing us, too, (with) the way we played,” Brady said, not looking to further upset Patriots fans with any criticisms. “That’s their right and we just didn’t play well.”

While it did not play a part in the 33-14 loss to Baltimore, the Patriots struggled to hold leads throughout the regular season, a trait that caused Brady to become critical of the practice habits of unnamed teammates. Following Sunday’s first-round exit, Brady widened his diagnosis of his team’s issues in 2009.

“I don’t think there’s one sweeping statement — we had a lot of problems over the course of the year,” Brady said. “Consistency in practice, consistency in the games — those were all something that we were looking for, something we talked about. It was a point of emphasis from our coach.

“Overcoming adversities and overcoming injuries or calls or bad bounces, that’s just the way football is. I’d say at times we did it, and other times we didn’t.”

For previous incarnations of the Patriots, overcoming adversity was a key trait — one that drove the team to surpass expectations and win the organization’s first Super Bowl in the 2001 season. Regaining that fire may become the focus of New England’s off-season work.