Bill Belichick Addresses Moving On From Tom Brady

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick shared his take on the Patriots’ readiness to move on from Tom Brady. Belichick talked to Rich Eisen during NFL Network’s schedule reveal show. He said the team had short-term success in Bradyl-less games.

“Well, we’ve played at other times without Tom,” Belichick said. “Whether it was the (2008) season after he was injured — we played 15 games with (Matt) Cassel and went 11-5 — or heading into the ’16 season with Jimmy (Garoppolo) and then Jacoby (Brissett) and Tom coming back after the four-game suspension. So there have been other times where we’ve dealt with that. We’ll do what we always do, which is try to prepare the team the best that we can, utilize our players and the skills that they have and put ourselves in the best position we can to be competitive and win. That’s what we always do, and we’ll continue to do that.”

Bill Belichick has a replacement for Tom Brady

The quarterback missed the entire 2008 season due to a torn ACL. He recovered quickly and was ready to win games in 2009. Brady has remained healthy throughout the entire time. In 2016, he missed the first four games of the season as a result of the Deflategate scandal. It was one of the best seasons he has ever had, and Brady won his fifth Super Bowl title.

Brady decided to leave the New England Patriots after two decades. He is part of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers now, and will probably stay there until the final day of his retirement.

Belichick is confident about the team’s 2020 season, and he is ready to use Jarrett Stidham as starter in Week 1. He praised the second-year quarterback for his skills and the incredible ability to improve.

“Stid worked really hard last year,” Belichick said. “He was our backup quarterback the entire season, and I know he’s working hard in the offseason. I know he’s made a lot of progress in terms of understanding our offense and understanding opponent defenses like all players do from Year 1 to Year 2. I’m sure he will get out there and be ready to go, be prepared, compete hard, and we’ll see where it takes us.”