Tom Brady Responds To Dion Lewis' Trashing Of The Patriots
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Dion Lewis contributed to a Tennessee Titans win over the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon. And the man was fired up.
Clearly still showing some leftover sour feelings regarding the Patriots moving on without him, Lewis tore into his former team. He said the Patriots decided to "go cheap" and were reaping what they sowed, so to speak, and he accused his former teammates of being soft.
"I know those guys," Lewis said of his ex-mates. "I know that you [can] be physical with them and let 'em have it and they'll fold."
That's the type of statement that certainly stands out, with at least two former Patriots taking note of the comment. And in his Monday morning radio interview, Tom Brady was obviously asked about Lewis' comments.
The veteran quarterback said he understood the role that emotions play in such moments, and he said players who win can say whatever they want.
"It's an emotional thing. I think people have different emotional feelings," Brady told WEEI. "Dion had a great career here. It's hard to see great players go, and I know it's not the first time it's happened, it has happened to a lot of guys. I am sure when they go to different places they want to beat us, absolutely. I can understand that emotion. We've had guys come from other teams and they have wanted to beat that team. It's just part of the sport."
Brady added: "I give them credit, they beat us. When you win, you can say a lot of things. That is the reality of winning. We'll just take our lumps and try and learn from them. And come out here and do a lot better job the next six weeks."
While Brady was in no position to start a war of words with anybody after Sunday's loss, one can safely assume that if the Patriots and Titans end up somehow meeting in January, Lewis' comments will be a hot topic inside the walls of the Patriots' locker room.
As for the Patriots' present situation, Brady said the Patriots just have to learn from the beating that was handed to them on Sunday.
"Any time you lose, you have to learn from it," he told WEEI. "If you learn from it, sometimes these losses can teach you a lot of things. We have to do a lot of self-analysis and self-scouting and I think really buckle down on the things that have worked and get rid of the things that haven't worked. ... We thought we would play a lot better yesterday, but we didn't. 7-3, six games to go, and we have our whole season ahead of us. Our season is going to be what we make of it. It's a great opportunity."
