With the Patriots not playing until Monday night and with quarterback Tom Brady’s practice schedule altered by a lingering Achilles tendon issue, his weekly non-game-day press conference occurred on Saturday. He opened it with a public apology to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
“One thing I do want to say, first, is I want to apologize to Josh for last week in Buffalo,” Brady told reporters. “I know our coaches work really hard. They’re responsible for putting us in a great position to succeed, so I just wanted to get that off my chest.”
Brady wanted to make it clear that he doesn’t normally interact with McDaniels that way.
"[A] lot of people see it and they think the nature of our relationship would be something like that, but it’s really the exact opposite of that,” Brady said. “So I’ve been feeling bad all week and I haven’t had a chance to say it. He knows how much I love him.”
But, ultimately, the incident -- which included Brady yelling “f--k you” at McDaniels -- flowed from the emotion of football.
“I think you have to play the game with energy, and emotion and enthusiasm,” Brady said. “I just, absolutely, it’s just directed in a positive way towards winning and towards what we’re trying to accomplish as a team. I have so much trust in the players and so much trust in our coaches and what we’re all trying to accomplish. We all want the same thing. To go about that in the right way is what matters the most. We’re going to have to have a lot of enthusiasm. We should because this is a great atmosphere and it means a lot and we’re playing for a lot this weekend. We’re on Monday Night, so hopefully all of that energy is directed the right way toward being the best team we can be and me playing my best to help us win.”
The 10-2 Patriots face the 5-7-and-nothing-to-lose Dolphins in Miami to cap Week 14. Needless to say, ESPN will constantly have a camera trained on Brady when he’s on the sideline.
