New England Patriots: It’s Time for Tom Brady to Grow Up

Sep 12, 2013; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) during the fourth quarter against the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium. The New England Patriots won 13-10. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Yes, I said it. It’s time for the 36-year old, 3x Super Bowl champion to grow up. This morning NFL reporters Ian Rapoport and Mike Silver tweeted that Tom Brady has been calling and texting former receivers Deion Branch and Brandon Lloyd to gauge their availability. Rapoport followed the initial tweet with another one stating that Branch has told Brady he is ready if called upon. Brandon Lloyd is unavailable as he is currently acting in zombie movies.

While Brady’s frustrations with the young receiver corps. are understandable, calling for his former receivers cannot help their already low confidence. Everyone knows that Brady is a competitor and wants to win right now, especially with his Super Bowl window closing each year, but that does not excuse him from being a patient mentor. This only sends a message to the young guys like Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins that their Hall of Fame quarterback doesn’t believe in them. Thompkins has only played two NFL games so far, and Dobson only one. To express a lack of confidence in them already is expecting too much of them too early.

Not many receivers can come out of college and immediately make a huge impact in the NFL right away, and Brady needs to realize that. The fact that he’s calling Branch, a 34-year old receiver way past his prime that only had 16 receptions in 10 games with New England last year, and LLoyd, the discarded receiver that no team in the NFL wanted, shows his desperation for familiarity. This is the first year he’s actually had to adjust to completely new receivers since 2007, and then he had the fortune of having Wes Welker and Randy Moss as teammates.

Last week after the sloppy victory over the Jets, Brady admitted that he needed to work on his body language. He was visually frustrated during that game, yelling on the field and throwing his cup in frustration on the sideline. The publicity of these texts and calls to his former receivers is worse than poor body language, since they aren’t coming from the competitive heat of the game, they are  premeditated. Brady needs to grow up and realize he needs to work with the situation he’s been given and make the best of it. If he can win a Super Bowl throwing to David Patten and Jermaine Wiggins, he can do it throwing to these young, high-potential guys.