As expected, Tom Brady took the field at mandatory minicamp for the New England Patriots on Tuesday. The only thing more predictable than that was the way Brady’s coach reacted to the quarterback returning to the practice field with the team.
At his first press conference of minicamp, Bill Belichick was asked several questions about Brady and Rob Gronkowski choosing to skip voluntary organized team activities. He downplayed the significance of it and insisted his relationship within Brady remains in a good place.
Bill Belichick speaking at #Patriots minicamp: "I've always had a good relationship with Tom." Says Brady has skipped OTAs before. All players present for mandatory minicamp.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 5, 2018
Brady has not skipped OTAs for the last several seasons and has spoken in recent years about how important they are, but Belichick chose not to echo those sentiments. As usual, he also did his best to put Brady and Gronk on the same level as everyone else.
Video: Belichick on having Brady and Gronk back: “It’s good to have everybody back.” pic.twitter.com/KQxX6Jxx9c
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) June 5, 2018
It’s no secret that Brady and Belichick have not been seeing eye-to-eye on everything over the past year or so, and some players may still be upset with the coach over the puzzling decision he made in the Super Bowl. But if history repeats itself, the Patriots will brush all of that aside and focus on winning. Belichick and Brady still want to add another Super Bowl win to their respective legacies, so that should be motivation enough for them to ignore all of the outside noise.
