New England Patriots

Dolphins DE Olivier Vernon: 'It's always fun to hit Brady'

Published Jan. 4, 2016 12:55 p.m. ET

Cameron DaSilva

The New England Patriots elected not to rest their starters on Sunday with home-field advantage up for grabs, and while they didn't suffer any serious injuries, Tom Brady was left hurting after the game. He was seen limping away from his postgame press conference after being hit by the Miami Dolphins six times and said he's "pretty sore."

Three of those hits came from defensive end Olivier Vernon, who recorded six tackles in the game to go along with a half-sack. His job is to hit the quarterback, and he enjoys it greatly -- especially when it's Brady under center.

“It’s always fun to hit Brady,” Vernon told reporters Sunday. “It’s always fun to hit a quarterback. It knocks them off their game.”

Hitting Brady certainly did knock him off his game. He played by far the worst game of his stellar season, completing 12-of-21 passes for 134 yards.

Some of that had to do with his offensive line struggling to protect him and the absence of Julian Edelman, but it was mainly because of the Dolphins' dominance on defense.