New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft revealed earlier this week that he sat down for a meeting with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, and he implied that it had something to do with the faces of the franchise clearing the air. While the sit-down may have helped, it does not sound like it was a cure-all.
Greg Bedard of Boston Sports Journal reports that “things still aren’t completely settled” between Belichick, Brady and Kraft even after their meeting. Bedard noted that the hope is that the meeting was a step in the direction.
Given all that we know about the tension that exists between Brady’s trainer Alex Guerrero and the Patriots’ training staff, it’s possible that the issues will never be completely resolved. Brady’s TB12 Sports Therapy Center, which was co-founded by Guerrero, is located just outside Gillette Stadium. Players have reportedly been going there for treatment in increasing numbers, and there have been reports that they are being told to ignore instructions from the team’s training staff in favor of other workout and rehabilitation techniques.
In addition to the Guerrero drama, there have been strong indications that Brady and other Patriots players are unhappy with Belichick for benching Malcolm Butler in the Super Bowl. For evidence of that, look no further than the way Brady and some other veterans publicly supported Butler after the bitter loss.
No organization in sports has been better than the Patriots at limiting distractions and focusing on winning, and hardly anyone would be surprised if they did just that again in 2018. Even if Brady and Belichick don’t like each other as much as they once did, their goals are still very much aligned.
