Tom Brady Opts To Not Comment On Antonio Brown Accusations

BOSTON (CBS) -- On Wednesday morning, Bill Belichick did not care to speak about the accusations against new wide receiver Antonio Brown. On Wednesday afternoon, Tom Brady shared the sentiment -- albeit with a more polite touch.

The quarterback stepped to the podium for his weekly press conference with the media, and he was of course asked about if he had any comment about the sexual assault and rape allegations against Brown.

"No," Brady replied.

When the reporter followed up by asking that Brady had "not a word to say," the quarterback replied with a question of his own.

"Didn't I just answer that?" Brady said.

In a federal lawsuit filed in Florida, Brown's former trainer, Britney Taylor, filed a civil complaint against Brown, accusing the receiver of sexually assaulting her multiple times in 2017 and 2018. Brown has denied all the allegations.

When asked how he and the team can deal with such distractions, Brady gave an answer that's been given countless times over the years in Foxboro.

"I'm just trying to show up and play football and trying to prepare," Brady said. "Miami's a good team. I'm going to get ready for them. Things that don't involve me don't involve me."

In one last follow-up, Brady was asked if he ever followed through on welcoming Brown to live with him.

"Yeah I'm not getting into all that," Brady said.

NBC's Al Michaels relayed a story during the pregame on Sunday, in which Robert Kraft told the broadcaster that Brady was so on board with the Brown signing that the quarterback was willing to let Brown stay in his house while getting settled in New England. In a radio interview on Monday, Brady backed off the magnitude of such an offering, saying, "Anyone is welcome to stay over my house. I've had a lot of [teammates] over during the season and offseason."

While Brady may not be sharing a home with Brown, they are closely situated in the Patriots' locker room, with Brown's locker stall being just two down from Brady. The quarterback was asked if it's easier to establish relationships with teammates when they're close in proximity.

"Yeah that's like Park Place and Broadway. That area of our locker room. That's the high-rent district," Brady said of the area that has featured the likes of Rob Gronkowski, Randy Moss, and currently Josh Gordon and Brown. "I think there's a lot of offensive players down there through the years. I mean, Coach kind of groups everyone with their position groups for the most part. ... I think teams are about everyone coming together trying to do the right thing, and we're all here for one thing, and that's winning games."

Brady's press conference came a little over four hours after Belichick ended his own press conference. The coach wanted both the statements of the team and of Brown's representatives to serve as the official public word on the matter, so when reporters exclusively asked about Brown, Belichick put an end to the meeting.

Brady is coming off a dominant performance in Week 1 against the Steelers, a night that marked the 22nd time in his career he's thrown for at least 340 yards with at least three touchdowns an no interceptions. The Dolphins are coming off a 59-10 loss at home to Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.

Nevertheless, the Patriots' struggles in Miami are so prevalent that Brady's not taking anything for granted this weekend -- especially with the "Miami Miracle" so fresh in his and his teammates' head.

"Yeah we've had, for one reason or another, just struggles over a lot of years," Brady said. "I think they even predate me, which is hard to say because I've been here for a while. Five of our last six we lost. I remember the first time we beat them down there in '03, on the pass to Troy Brown, that was the first time in however many years. It's a challenging place to play."

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