The ball was in Gary Myers' court Tuesday, and he gamely volleyed back.
The longtime NFL writer reported Monday that Tom Brady's "deteriorating relationship" with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels played a role in quarterback leaving the New England Patriots to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency.
Brady strongly refuted Myers' report Monday night, writing, "Please stop this nonsense!" on his Instagram story.
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But Myers stood by his reporting Tuesday during an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub's "Zolak & Bertrand."
"Since Tom has denied that I’ve gotten several texts from people that I really trust who told me that I’m 100 percent correct on this and to stand strong on it because they know it to be true as well," Myers said.
"I first heard this a few weeks ago. I felt like I needed to get it confirmed. I try not to (report information) — unless it’s really imperative — from single sources. Once I got a confirmation on everything I heard a couple weeks ago, I felt it was appropriate to do this."
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Myers clarified that he believes Brady "likes" McDaniels, but that their working relationship went downhill in 2019 due to an underperforming offense.
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"I'm not saying they hate each other," Myers said. "I’m saying last year, the relationship deteriorated as the Patriots offense struggled. The fact that Tom came out and denied it, that doesn’t bother me in the least.
" ... This wasn’t a personal thing, and I’m not even blaming him for this. I’m just reporting what happened."
Myers also reiterated the validity of his sourcing, seemingly responding to the 42-year-old QB's call to "be more responsible with reporting."
"If I was to tell you who told me that, and exactly how they know it, nobody out there would question the correctness of my report," Myers added. "It’s that good of a source."
It's certainly possible Brady and McDaniels didn't see eye-to-eye last season, and our Tom E. Curran has reported that Brady felt marginalized in the Patriots' game plan.
But Curran also said Monday on NBC Sports Boston's "Early Edition" he believes it's overblown to call the Brady-McDaniels relationship "deteriorating."
So, it appears there's some truth to Myers' report and to Brady's insistence that he and McDaniels are still close. Go figure.