Morning sports update: Tom Brady gave an expansive answer on why the Patriots are ‘going to miss’ Ben Watson
"I can’t say enough good things about Ben, what he’s meant to me, my family, our team."
The Bruins got off to the team’s best start in 18 years with a 4-3 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday. Boston is now 3-0-0.
The Connecitcut Sun forced a Game 5 with a 90-86 win in the WNBA Finals against the Seattle Mystic. The decisive game of the series will be played on Thursday to decide the championship.
And the Rays beat the Astros 4-1 to extend the ALDS to a pivotal Game 5, set for Thursday.
Tom Brady’s comments on Ben Watson’s release: Tight end Ben Watson was supposed to rejoin the Patriots after serving his four-game suspension, providing a useful boost at a position where the team seems to still be searching for quality following the retirement of Rob Gronkowski.
Yet the Patriots announced earlier this week that Watson wasn’t being activated to the roster and was in fact being released. It was surprising move, and one that caught Tom Brady off guard.
“You know, pretty tough,” said Brady in a Tuesday press conference when asked about Watson being cut. “Pretty tough. I mean, it’s tough for a lot of guys. I’ve played with a lot of guys over the years. You know, Ben’s a great player. He’s been a great player for this team, for other teams, he’s had an incredible career and hopefully he can keep playing.
“I know he was looking forward to playing,” Brady said of Watson returning from suspension. “I miss him. He was right next to me, and for as great as a player he was, he was 10 times a better person, just the highest integrity. I can’t say enough good things about Ben, what he’s meant to me, my family, our team. So, we’re going to miss him.”
The correspondingly less-than-enthusiastic description Brady gave the team’s current tight ends was also notable.
“I’m the quarterback, so I don’t make those decisions,” Brady said when asked about his comfort level with Ryan Izzo and Matt LaCosse. “Whoever’s out there, that’s who I’ve got to play with.”
Asked a follow-up about if he’s seen any improvement from the pair of tight ends, Brady had this to say:
Yeah, those guys, they’re competing hard. I think they’re trying, and Matt hasn’t been out there as much as we all would have wanted, certainly what he would have wanted. Ryan’s done quite a few things for us. Again, I think part of the reference to practice earlier is we’re trying to get out there and utilize the reps we can in practice, talk about things, communicate through the things that come up in practice, so that, again, we can execute when we need to in the game.
The Patriots are on a short week, facing the Giants at Gillette Stadium on Thursday night at 8:20 p.m.
Trivia: Andre Tippett holds the Patriots team record for most sacks in a season with 18.5, set in 1984. Who was the only NFL player to eclipse Tippett that season in sacks?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: The answer is not Lawrence Taylor.
More from Boston.com:
- 3 takeaways from the Bruins’ 4-3 win over Vegas
- Patriots notebook: Tight end Ryan Izzo trying to gain connection with Tom Brady
- Why Devin McCourty might be Bill Belichick’s best defensive draft pick ever
- Simone Biles sets record as US wins world gymnastics team gold
- Greg Bedard is taking a new job with the Las Vegas Review-Journal
- Bill Belichick explained what makes the Patriots’ defense unique
- Watch all 5 of Tom Brady’s victory hype videos this season
- Rob Gronkowski is joining Fox Sports as an NFL analyst
- Here’s how much the Red Sox are increasing ticket prices in 2020
- Red Sox pitching coach Dana LeVangie reassigned, will become pro scout
- Kevin Youkilis caught some flak from Patriots fans over his NFL tweets
- Cambridge police release statement on incident involving Enes Kanter
Dave Goucher’s experience in Las Vegas
: After working as the Bruins’ radio play-by-play voice from 2000-2017, Goucher left Boston for Las Vegas. His experience so far with the Golden Knights and living in a very different setting has already produced some memories. Boston Globe writer Matt Porter recently caught up with Goucher to talk about it.
Tom Brady trolled Jacoby Brissett’s Instagram: The former Patriots backup got a comment on this photo from Brady that read, “Love those pants! Did they have any that fit you?” (Brady followed up with a pair of heart emojis.)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3P1N1_F_Uq/?utm_source=ig_embed
Those who have O.J. Howard on their fantasy teams watched this with mixed emotions:
Oh hey, @TheRealOjHoward 👋
The TB @Buccaneers TE with an incredible one-handed catch in the stands tonight! pic.twitter.com/myIoJpHPVr
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 9, 2019
On this day: In 1916, Babe Ruth allowed an inside-the-park home run to Brooklyn Robins centerfielder Hi Myers with two outs in the top of the first. Ruth, undeterred, proceeded to pitch 13.1 scoreless innings to help the Red Sox win Game 2 of the World Series, 2-1.
The Red Sox took a 2-0 lead in the series (Boston would go on to win 4-1), and Ruth began a World Series scoreless-innings streak that would reach 29.2 over three games.
Daily highlight: Ben Simmons made a three and Joel Embiid was pumped.
Embiid was there for Ben Simmons as he made his first three 😄 pic.twitter.com/NFeC2m24Iu
— ESPN (@espn) October 9, 2019
Trivia answer: Mark Gastineau
