Things haven't been going well for Tom Brady and the New England Patriots this season, and former teammate Rodney Harrison thinks the quarterback looks "scared to death."
Rodney Harrison says Tom Brady looks ‘scared to death’
NBC analyst Rodney Harrison says the Patriots haven’t done Tom Brady any favors this season, but still thinks his former teammate needs to play better.
John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
With the way Brady has been playing so far, no theory can really be dismissed. Brady is completing just under 60 percent of his passes, throwing just four touchdowns and a baffling 791 yards through four games. The offense has struggled at times, but that was especially -- and painfully -- evident in Monday night’s 41-14 beating in Kansas City.
Harrison, now an analyst on NBC, cited plenty of reasons for Brady’s struggles during a radio interview on WEEI in Boston:
"Tom Brady can still play," he said during an appearance on WEEI, via ESPNBoston.com. "But when you surround him -- there's a reason why Brandon LaFell was let go [by Carolina]. He's not a great player. He's a young guy, and he has to make his way in this league.
"And Danny Amendola, you look at him, no one ever said he was a great player. He's always been hurt. The history is behind it. Rob Gronkowski obviously coming off that ACL injury, he's been hurt. So it's not like when you look at the Patriots on paper they just have all these weapons and teams are afraid of them."
But when the game was already out of hand Monday night, and Brady's second interception was returned for a touchdown, Bill Belichick pulled him to give Jimmy Garoppolo some reps. Was Belichick sending a message to his embattled quarterback?
”Whether Bill pulled [Brady] because he’s afraid he was going to get injured, or Bill was trying to send him a non-subtle message, as a player your mind kind of starts playing tricks on you and you start thinking like, “What’s going on?” Harrison said. “But at the end of the day, Tom needs to play better. The offensive line needs to protect him, but Tom -- we’ve said it week in and week out -- he’s missing opportunities that are there; he’s just floating the ball in the air.”
Worse yet, Brady's statistics don't even match up well with other AFC East quarterbacks, and that's a list that includes EJ Manuel (who has already been benched for Kyle Orton), Geno Smith and Ryan Tannehill. That's just a glimpse into how bad things have been in New England.
The road doesn't get any easier for the Patriots, who suddenly, for the first time in what feels like an eternity, are a lost team searching for answers. They'll be matching up with the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals Sunday night.
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