National Football League

Bitter, Brady? Patriots QB defends self for perceived dissing of backup QB

Published Oct. 1, 2014 7:01 p.m. ET

foxsports

New England Patriots starting quarterback Tom Brady inadvertently stirred up some controversy Monday night when he ignored Jimmy Garoppolo after the rookie quarterback threw his first NFL touchdown pass.

Brady stayed seated on the bench after Garoppolo came to the sideline as the Patriots trailed the Kansas City Chiefs, 41-14. Brady eventually started looking over plays with the rookie signal-caller and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

While Boston airwaves exploded in the ensuing days with talk of the perceived snub, however, Brady explained in his weekly radio interview on WEEI’s “Dennis and Callahan” that TV cameras are seldom on his mind on the sideline.

“I’m really not (aware of the cameras),” Brady said Wednesday, via ESPN.com. “When we lose, there’s really not a lot — even when we win, I think it’s just important to not ride the roller coaster of emotions. You have to believe in your process. You have to believe in the things that you are doing to help the team win. I think you have to take the good with the bad.

“I was happy for Jimmy. I was happy for our team. We kept fighting at the end. That’s a good thing. The more good players we have, the better we will be as a team. So I didn’t pay attention to any of those things. I was obviously disappointed that the outcome of the game was what it was. It’s been very frustrating all season the way that we have performed offensively. But we are trying to figure it out to become a better offense.”

It should be noted that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick also ignored Garoppolo when the rookie came to the sideline following his 13-yard TD strike to tight end Rob Gronkowski.

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