Tom Brady stood at the podium on Wednesday like a politician on the stump before a big debate. He wasn’t about to give any ammunition to his opponent.
“They’re great players,” Brady said Wednesday of Terrell Suggs, Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. “I’ve played against both those guys quite a few times. You always enjoy going up against the best because you can really measure where you’re at. You can’t take plays off against those guys. You can’t take things for granted when you’re out there against them. You have to see where they’re at on every play because they’re guys who change the game. Not only the games that we play them, but every single game that they’re in they’re making plays.”
It was Lewis and Suggs who didn’t blast Brady per se but how the NFL protects Brady and “babies” the New England quarterback, especially after his season-ending knee injury of Sept. 2008. The next season, there were a couple of crucial roughing the quarterback calls in New England’s 27-21 win over the Ravens at Gillette Stadium on Oct. 4. The Ravens were called for nine penalties for 85 yards, including a pair of crucial 15-yarders.
Lewis ripped the refs after the game, saying they were overcompensating to protect Brady. “Without totally going off the wall, it is embarrassing to the game,” Lewis said. “Brady is good enough to make his own plays, let him make the play. When you have two great teams that are going at it, let them go at it. Did [penalties] win or lose the game? No, but it got them 14 points.”
Suggs added he thought the NFL was especially interested in protecting “some quarterbacks more than others.” The Ravens were called for a pair of penalties when the Suggs grazed Brady, who fell to the turf.
“They don’t want the quarterbacks getting hurt,” Suggs said after that game. “Maybe next year it’ll be two-hand touch for the sack because we can’t tackle.”Fast forward to Wednesday. While Suggs was offering to take Brady up on his offer of Uggs in exchange for “Ball So Hard University” shirts, the linebacker made it clear it’s not personal with Brady.
“There’s no beef,” Suggs said. “You grow and mature. I’m not the same guy I was in ’09. I’m 20 pounds lighter. There’s no beef. It’s pretty much over. I respect him.”Our own Kirk Minihane is in enemy territory this week with the Ravens and had this unique take on The World According to Terrell Suggs.
And remember when the Patriots beat the Ravens, 23-20, in overtime last year? Suggs said Brady “made some plays . . . But like I said, he just better hope he don’t see us again.”Brady replied on Dennis and Callahan the next day, “they talk a lot for only beating us once in nine years.”Brady was asked point-blank Wednesday if he thought the Ravens have a lot of bad blood built up for him.
“I have a lot of respect for them and their ability to play and perform under pressure,” Brady said artfully. “They’ve been in the playoffs the last four years and they’ve won playoff games in the last four years. They’re a tough team. What goes on off the field and the comments that guys make really has no bearing or impact on this game nor will it. A lot of my focus and attention is on what I need to do to be at my best this week for my teammates. Hopefully we go out there and play our best game.”
Brady isn’t going to be worried about sticks and stones on Sunday but rather where Ed Reed is on the field, bad left ankle or not.
“You don’t fool Ed too often,” said Brady when asked if you could fool Reed. “Every once in a while you see him out of place but it’s very, very rare. When you break the huddle, you find where he’s at and you make sure you’re not lobbing the ball up in his zones, because as you saw in the Houston game, he’s going to go up there and make the plays. He’s just an exceptional player. I don’t think there is a weakness that he has. Coach Belichick has a meeting with the all the quarterbacks and you talk about strengths and weak points of a player, and a guy like Ed and Ray Lewis, there’s no real weak points. You just have to be careful with the ball around them and understand that this is a team that really can get turnovers and they’ve gotten turnovers against us when they’ve played us. I’m sure that will be a huge difference in the game.”
Brady is expected to take to the podium again on Thursday, an unusual occurrence brought on by AFC championship media demands. Don’t worry, though. He’ll be watching his words just as closely then, too.