Tom Brady: No Elbow Injury -- I Just Need To Play Better
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady did not get much sleep on Sunday night, thinking about what could have been had the Patriots played a better game on Sunday. But they didn't, and now they have a Wild Card weekend matchup with the Tennessee Titans to fill their thoughts.
That doesn't mean Sunday's disheartening 27-24 defeat at the hands of the Miami Dolphins isn't on their minds. After the Patriots lose out on the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye, it led to a sleepless night for Brady, who like his teammates, will use Sunday's loss as fuel going forward.
"Just tossing and turning, not much sleep. You just have a lot of emotion after the game. You hate to have nights like that, but you have to do something to change them," Brady said Monday morning on his weekly interview on WEEI. "It's important for us to just realize our goals are ahead of us. We have to go out there and try to have our best week and figure out how to win a game."
Brady finished Sunday's loss 16-of-29 for 221 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His fourth quarter touchdown to James White gave the Patriots a 24-20 lead with under four minutes to play, but the Dolphins got the best of the New England defense and scored a touchdown with just 24 seconds left. Brady also threw a pick-six in the second quarter, allowing Miami to jump out to a 10-0 lead, one of the many unforced errors the Patriots committed in the defeat.
"Yesterday we had plays, I certainly did, that I should make and I didn't make them," said Brady. "That's why you lose games. This week it has to be more concentration, focus, determination, attitude -- everything has to be at its top, top, top this week. You just have to get to a great place where we're confident and trusting and going out there to execute at the highest level.
"We can certainly execute a lot better than we did yesterday. We had too much unforced errors, things that Miami didn't even have to do to stop us," he continued. "That is when you know you're disappointed in the way you played. It's just self-inflicted errors which really were -- I give them all the credit for winning, but there are things that we just shouldn't do and we have to tighten those things up."
Asked if he's dealing with an elbow injury, Brady was adamant that he's healthy. The 42-year-old was seen shaking out his right arm on the sideline on Sunday, but on Monday he insisted that he's not dealing with any physical ailments at the moment.
"I don't have any problems. I have no injuries," said Brady. "I've said it a lot. I feel good. There is no injury, no nothing. I wish I would have played better, and that's about it."
Now Brady and the struggling Patriots offense will look to play better against Mike Vrabel and his Titans, a team that beat them last season 34-10 in Tennessee.
"They are playing well," Brady said of New England's next opponent. "They have a great rushing attack. They have a lot of playmakers on offense. Ryan Tannehill is doing a great job for them at quarterback. Defense, they mix it up a lot; good cover guys, good blitzing scheme. They rush the quarterback good, so it's going to be a tough game and we're going to have to bring it. That is what our goal has to be."
Tune in to Saturday's Patriots-Titans Wild Card showdown on WBZ-TV — the flagship station of the New England Patriots. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. and after the game stay tuned for full reaction and analysis on Patriots 5th Quarter!
