Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady has been a teammate with Rob Gronkowski for so long that he can read the tight end’s mind.
That’s what Brady said Thursday when discussing pre-snap and non-verbal communication with his teammates, new and old, at Bucs.
“I think we’ve certainly come a long way,” said Brady. “I think we will continue to improve. The more we are together, the more we talk about football, the more we try to be on the same page, the better. It is a complex game – there are many moving parts (and) there is a lot of coordination involved between several different positions. I think the quarterback-receiver relationship is very important. The more I know Mike (Evans), Chris (Godwin), Antonio (Brown), ‘Scooter’ (Scotty Miller), Tyler (Johnson), ‘Mick’ (Jaydon Mickens) – the better it gets. The tight final position, I’ve been close to Gronk (Rob Gronkowski) for a long time – I know exactly what he’s thinking (and) what he looks like. “
That sounds pretty easy, actually, although we’re not sure we’d like to go there. It’s probably just an endless stream of jokes about a certain number.
“Cam (Brate) is a very easy guy to get to know, too,” Brady continued. “We will continue to try to make improvements. We have a great test this weekend (against) one of the great teams in the NFL (which has been) consistently one of the great teams for a long time. We will have to play a great game of football. “
The Buccaneers face the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at 6:40 pm (Eastern Time) in the divisional playoff round. Brady’s privateers beat the Washington football team on the Wild Card on Saturday to move forward in the postseason.
Brady made 22 from 40 to 381 yards with two touchdowns in Saturday’s 31-23 win. Gronkowski failed to hit a target.
Miniature photo via Tim Fuller / USA TODAY Sports Images