Tom Brady details how ex-players on coaching staff give Patriots a ‘great advantage'

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Tom Brady won Super Bowls with Troy Brown and Jerod Mayo as teammates. Now, at least one of them is his boss, with Mayo serving as the New England Patriots' inside linebackers coach and Brown helping out at Patriots practices as an unofficial assistant. 

This unique situation is a reminder of Brady's amazing longevity. But beyond that, Brady believes having Mayo and Brown around actually gives the Patriots a leg up over other NFL teams.

"They were great players and great leaders, and for them to transition and then pass on their knowledge in a different way is a great advantage to the guys on our team," Brady said Tuesday morning in an interview on WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show."

Here's the key component: Brown and Mayo both played under the same system that head coach Bill Belichick operates today, meaning they are uniquely prepared to help younger players -- like rookie wide receiver N'Keal Harry -- get caught up to speed.

"A lot of teams don't get that type of experience, because there's so much turnover and carryover," Brady said. "You don't see a lot of former players back there in the same offense, coaching the same things that they were coached (on). So, I think there's a huge benefit.

"Those guys are great assets to the team because they can hear what's being coached, they can see what a player is doing and they can give the players different insights. They can apply that on the field in real time to make the right decision and make the right play.

" ... If your coaches can help you get to those decisions quicker and you can make the decisions right more often than wrong, it's a huge benefit to the team, and I think those guys have done a great job doing that."

Belichick is the NFL's longest-tenured coach by six years. That stability has been crucial to New England's success over the last two decades, while also allowing former players like Brown and Mayo -- who won a combined four Super Bowls with the Patriots -- to pass along valuable insights that are still relevant to the 2019 squad.

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