Belichick: Tom Brady and I ‘had good relationship' during Patriots career

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There's going to be a lot of talk this week about the relationship between Tom Brady and Bill Belichick during the veteran quarterback's final years with the New England Patriots.

The Patriots head coach was asked several questions Monday morning regarding Brady and his decision to leave New England as a free agent in 2020.

Belichick had plenty of good things to say about his former quarterback as he prepares to face Brady and the Bucs at Gillette Stadium on Sunday night. 

“Tom and I had a -- I feel like a good relationship and a lot of production, obviously, while we were together," Belichick said during an interview with WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show". "And I enjoyed coaching Tom, and he was a great player for us."

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Belichick also made the point that the Patriots aren't just playing against Brady next week. The focus for his players needs to be on the entire roster of the defending Super Bowl champs, who have plenty of good players on both sides of the ball.

"Sunday night, we line up across from Tampa -- not just him, but the entire team. They’re obviously a good team," Belichick said. "So it’s all about our team competing against Tampa’s team. It’s like it is every week. But there’s guys on New Orleans -- you know, Chris Hogan -- there’s guys every week that have been on our team, or guys on our team that have been on the other team.

"Certainly Tom is a special player, I’m not trying to put him in the same category as a guy who was here for a year or something like that. But at the same time, you’re competing against the team you are playing against, and that’s what you do.”

Both the Patriots and Buccaneers will enter their much-anticipated Week 4 showdown coming off losses. The Patriots were beaten 28-13 by the Saints on Sunday, while the Bucs lost 34-24 to the Rams.

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