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Julian Edelman, Tom Brady’s former teammate at the New England Patriots, said the obvious on Friday. Edelman stated that the legendary quarterback's extreme competitiveness will drive him to make a big statement when he returns to Gillette Stadium Sunday night.
Edelman stated on The Ringer’s Ryen Russillo Podcast that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' signal-caller would love for the scoreboard to be lit up against Bill Belichick and his Pats team.
Although Brady avoided most of the questions about his departure from New England this week and rumors of Belichick's dissatisfaction during his last years with the franchise in New England, he stated Thursday that his goal is to make Sunday a dominating performance.
This week's Brady-Belichick talk included excerpts from an upcoming book called It's Better to Be Feared, written by ESPN's Seth Wickersham. Wickersham reported that the Patriots' long-time quarterback told people in 2017 that he no longer wanted to play for Bill.
Both of them have not been willing to participate in the rivalry narrative going into the game. However, Belichick said Friday that Brady was still the preferred quarterback.
He said that he and his team have been discussing the matter for over two decades. "I believe I've said it dozens of times that there is no quarterback I would rather have than Tom Brady. That's how I feel. It was a great privilege to have Tom as my quarterback coach. He was the best coach you could ask for."
They aren't adding to the stories about the high-profile split, but it is continuing the build without them. It's not surprising that the Patriots-Buccaneers match will be the most viewed game in the 2021 regular season.
Brady posted Saturday's hype video focusing on his journey through the NFL draft, New England years, and now to Tampa Bay.
Kickoff for Week 4's marquee matchup is set for 8:20 pm. ET Sunday on NBC
