New England Patriots

Morning sports update: Tom Brady had high praise for the Patriots defense despite offense’s Week 4 struggles

Brady also discussed Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski.

Tom Brady in Buffalo during the Patriots' Week 4 win over the Bills.

By Hayden Bird

4 minutes to read

The Celtics held the team’s 2019 media day on Monday. The first game of the regular season is on Oct. 23 against the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Patriots prepare to play Washington on Sunday at 1 p.m. And the Revolution will be in Atlanta also on Sunday to conclude the regular season at 4 p.m.

Tom Brady shared more thoughts on a tough win in Buffalo: The Patriots moved to 4-0 on Sunday after a 16-10 win over the Bills. While Tom Brady wasn’t overly pleased with the offenses’s contribution to the game, he reserved especially high praise for the defense.

“Our defense is playing great football — the best football I can ever remember our defense playing, which has been really spectacular to watch,” Brady told Westwood One’s Jim Gray on Monday night. “We’re all excited about the way that they’re playing.”

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A mention that the “kicking game” was doing well drew an immediate follow-up question from Gray, who pointed out that New England place kicker Stephen Gostkowski has experienced some early-season struggles (he missed another extra point on Sunday).

“Stephen Gostkowski’s an All-Pro in this league, and I always count on him to deliver,” Brady said in response. “It doesn’t always go our way. He’s working through some things. We’re working through some things on offense. I’d say our kicking game in general — the punt team, the kickoff team, punt return team, all those phases, we got a block punt for touchdown yesterday — those phases have been real positive for us.”

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Brady admitted that the aftermath of a tough day on offense was difficult to process, but knows that the Patriots have to move on.

“The flight home yesterday sucked,” Brady bluntly noted. “The night of sleep sucked. And you watch the film and that sucks. Then you lick your wounds and you get up and try to do better the next week. We’ve lost a lot of games playing poorly, and sometimes when you don’t play well on offense but you play well defensively, you win. We’re not just going to give that game away and say it’s a loss.

“Look, our defense is playing great, our offense has played pretty well over the course of the season,” Brady continued. “We just didn’t play well yesterday on the road in Buffalo, which a lot of teams have struggled there over the years. We’ve struggled there over the years, even when we’ve had some spectacular seasons. That’s part of the NFL season. Every matchup doesn’t really suit your specific strength. Sometimes it’s like boxing: Some guys just match up well against other teams, that’s just the way it goes. But you figure out how to get a win, you learn from it, you try to move on and you try to do better the next week.”

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Gray also asked Brady about the status of his calf injury, which the 42-year-old addressed a week ago noting that he’s not a “spring chicken anymore.”

“No, I said that tongue and cheek last week,” Brady said of the remark. “Again, I know things in context don’t come out that way, but that was kind of said as a joke and became a headline. I’m feeling really good. We’re four games into the season. A lot of guys are already out, missing the whole season with injuries because it’s a contact sport. I feel good. I came out of the game really clean and I’m excited to go out and practice this week and seeing if we can make some improvements.”

Trivia: Monday (Sept. 30) was the anniversary of Tom Brady’s first career start in 2001. The Patriots won the game over the Colts, 44-13. Who was the Colts’ coach that day?

(Answer at the bottom).

Hint: “Playoffs? Don’t talk about playoffs.”

More from Boston.com:

A leftover stat from Sunday, as the Patriots defense continues to dominate

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A slight contrast:

Phillip Dorsett’s karaoke was pretty good: At Duron Harmon’s charity karaoke night, wide receiver Phillip Dorsett sang Jodeci’s “Come and talk to me.”

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https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1178838618221228032

On this day: In 2000, the Patriots began the season a disappointing 0-4, though all of the losses came by one-score margins. Finally, on Oct. 1, the Patriots went to Mile High Stadium — a venue where New England has ironically struggled in the last 20 years — and got the first win of the Bill Belichick era. Drew Bledsoe threw four touchdowns and New England won, 28-19, in 80-degree weather.

Daily highlight: Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay gave his side the lead in a Monday matchup against Arsenal, though the Gunners eventually leveled to finish the game 1-1.

Trivia answer: Jim E. Mora