Tom Brady on Replacement Officials: “I Really Couldn’t Care Less Who’s Calling the Game”

For a man who’s as slow as molasses, Tom Brady is extremely good at escaping pressure in the pocket. But Brady still needs his offensive line to do a serviceable job. That line, which struggled at times last year, is now without Matt Light and is only getting Logan Mankins back now. As a result, the unit struggled in the preseason opener, and some Patriots fans are growing concerned. Tom Brady joined the Dennis and Callahan Show on WEEI in Boston to talk about new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, the differences between McDaniels and his predecessor Bill O’Brien, and how he feels about his offensive line, which has struggled early in the preseason. Brady also commented on how he feels about training camp and made it clear that he isn’t concerned with the referee lockout.

On offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels:

“He and I are extremely comfortable with one another and he’s a great coach. I love being coached by him — he comes prepared every single day, he’s always got something new to add to us. He brings a lot of energy to our offense.”

On the differences between Bill O’Brien and McDaniels:

“Every coach has different styles, but they coached with each other. So in terms of our offense and the style of our offense, it’s the same playbook. Every coach has a different kind of flavor to it. And this year is very different in that the players that we have on the team this year are different, so our offense always kind of morphs into the strengths of our individual skill set of players.”

On how he feels about his offensive line:

“Always in training camp there’s a lot of players in there that are competing for jobs. And certainly the offensive line that played the other night, they’ve been in there a lot throughout the course of training camp, so honestly it’s not my job to worry about those guys. I have a lot of confidence in that group in general. … The longer offensive lines play together, typically the better they play.”

On how he feels about training camp:

“I certainly don’t hate it. I would say it’s not probably everybody’s favorite time of year, but I don’t mind it at all. I love playing football and I love being out there with my teammates and seeing the rapport that we can develop. It’s a fun part of the year, it’s fun to be back and to see what we can really develop.”

On the replacement officials:

“Whoever’s out there is out there. I really couldn’t care less who’s calling the game. I gotta go out there and do my job as best I can.”