FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was upbeat during his weekly appearance on sports radio WEEI's "Kirk & Callahan" program Monday morning, which seemed to be a result of the team securing its best win of the season despite not having its best performance.
Here are 12 things we learned from No. 12 in the longer-than-the-norm 23-minute conversation:
1. Injured knee in a better place this week: "It’s better than last Monday, so I’m very happy about that ... Hopefully I’ll be feeling a lot better than yesterday come Sunday," Brady said, which highlighted how he was more banged up than many realized at this point last week. Going back and watching him kneel on the ball at the end of the 49ers game shows how he was dealing with pain at that time.
2. "Haven’t had a game like that this year": Players and coaches were elated on the field and then in the locker room after the game. Brady shared his view of what unfolded: "We went out and kind of slugged it out. It wasn’t certainly our best game. We missed plenty of plays early and then got into a little bit of a dogfight. I’m happy we found a way to pull it out at the end. We really haven’t had a game like that this year. It was a great win for us."
3. How does a quarterback show toughness? Brady talked about how important it is to him to be available to the team. "For a quarterback, it’s hard to really show toughness other than being out there every play. I mean, you guys saw what happened when I get out in front of a running back, I can’t do [expletive]," he cracked.
4. Never let the defense know you’re hurt: Explaining his mindset on playing through pain, Brady touched on how he learned from Brian Griese at Michigan, and then Drew Bledsoe with the Patriots. If Brady is hurt on the field, he doesn’t want you to know: "I feel like when you take a big hit, I never sit on the ground, and never want to ever let the defensive players know it hurt or that you felt it. I always want to get up faster than those guys and then kind of re-evaluate as you get back to the huddle."
5. What earns his respect: Brady relayed how he has "so much respect for players who put themselves out there; it’s a tough sport. I love watching documentaries and people pushing their bodies to the limit." He then talked about one of his core beliefs along those lines: "The body can endure a lot if the mind is tough. If you can convince yourself you can do it, then I believe 99 percent of the time you can."
6. Impatience, more than the knee injury, affected his accuracy: After watching the game film Sunday night, Brady disagreed with the thought that his knee injury affected his accuracy. "I thought I was impatient early in the game, just trying to get the ball out of my hands kind of before things developed," he said, highlighting how the team was close on several big plays.
7. No turnovers = 95 percent chance of winning: Brady said that Bill Belichick often relays to the team that when there are no turnovers, there is a 95 percent chance of victory. "That’s been basically our record over the course of many, many years when we don’t turn the ball over," Brady said.
8. Revis looked to be in pain: Brady said Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis is still "very competitive" but that the Patriots made some good catches on him, with Julian Edelman's 24-yard catch on second-and-10 with five minutes to play one critical example. Brady said he noticed Revis wincing in pain at times.
9. Burning a timeout on the first drive: After what appeared to be their initial first down of the game, the Patriots were forced to call timeout, which gave the Jets time to challenge the spot of the would-be first down. The challenge was successful. "That sucked," Brady said. "We thought we had the first down and we were calling a run play. We were a little confused with the look we were getting and took more time than usual and ended up squandering a possession. We could have gone fast to keep the possession. That’s a mental mistake and those things shouldn’t happen."
10. Hard to believe an all-time record of 200-61: "I could never have imagined that. I don’t think anyone could have imagined that," Brady said. "There have been a lot of things over the course of my career where I’ve just been in the right place at the right time. Coming to this team in 2000, and to play for Coach Belichick, who has given me so many opportunities to kind of live my dream ..."
11. Team chemistry in a good place: Brady, 39, shared how his locker is next to two rookies -- Jacoby Brissett and Malcolm Mitchell -- and it helps keep him young. Of the overall team chemistry, he said, "I’m having so much fun. There’s nothing I’d rather do. This has been a great team to play for. The quarterback room is a lot of fun. We laugh. We joke a lot. Everyone is committed to one another; it’s been a very selfless year so far. Guys are very happy when other guys are experiencing some success."
12. Michigan loss stings: A proud Michigan alum, Brady was disappointed in Saturday’s overtime loss to Ohio State. He expressed frustration with the officiating. "If that game is in Ann Arbor, I think it’s a different outcome," Brady said, before looking at the positive. "At least it’s a rivalry again. For so many years, I’ve bet all the guys from Ohio State and I’ve had to pay them for so many years. At least this game was competitive and went down to the end. It was a good game, I wish we would have pulled it out. They made some really great plays at the end, the Buckeyes did. Coach Harbaugh has the team going. It’s going to be a great rivalry for a lot of years."
