Bill Belichick addresses claim that he refused to meet with Tom Brady in person

Bill Belichick has the difficult task of preparing his team for the most highly anticipated regular-season NFL game of all time this week, but the New England Patriots coach is not totally ignoring the elephant in the room.

As expected, there has been a lot of talk already this week about the relationship between Belichick and Tom Brady. One new piece of information came from the soon-to-be released book “It’s Better to Be Feared,” which dives into what went on behind the scenes during the Patriots’ dynasty years. In that book, author Seth Wickersham claims Belichick refused to meet with Brady in person after the quarterback decided he was leaving the Patriots.

Belichick was asked about that on Wednesday. He said it is “not true” and cast doubt on anything else written in Wickersham’s book.

BB on whether he refused to meet TB in person before he left the Patriots: "That's not true and I heard a few things about this book. Sounds like it's a lot of 2nd and 3rd and 4th-hand comments. I'm not gonna focus on that. I'm gonna focus on trying to prepare for this game."

— Matt Dolloff (@mattdolloff) September 29, 2021

Belichick was then asked where things stand between him and Brady. He claimed they have always had a solid relationship and still do.

Belichick asked to characterize his current relationship with Brady: "I think it's good. It's always been good."

— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) September 29, 2021

It’s no secret that Brady grew tired of playing for Belichick. Even Brady’s longtime trainer and best friend Alex Guerrero recently criticized the coach for the way he treated Brady. That doesn’t necessarily mean the two hate each other.

Belichick shared his opinion this week on why Brady left the Patriots. Brady would likely disagree, but none of that will matter on Sunday. Both future Hall of Famers have a football game to prepare for, and both are masters at blocking out distractions.