Tom Brady will “find a way” post-Gronk, says Titans safety
Titans safety Kevin Byard was complimentary of Tom Brady in a recent interview, predicting the Patriots quarterback will survive without Rob Gronkowski.
Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard knows a thing or two about the New England Patriots.
In the three years he’s played since entering the NFL, Byard has gone up against the Evil Empire twice, splitting those meetings. The first time came in a 35-14 loss to the Pats in the Divisional Round of the 2017 playoffs; the Titans got revenge last season, though, in a 34-10 regular season win in Nashville, their first victory against the Patriots in 16 years.
Over that same timespan, Byard has established himself as one of the more underrated defensive players in the league. He’s been to the Pro Bowl once, and he already has 12 career interceptions in just 39 games as a starter.
Byard has been vocal about how much he relishes proving himself against the NFL’s best competition, and that certainly has included Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski – a player he was often forced to take on, mano-y-mano, when the two AFC teams went head-to-head the last two years.
So it was interesting to hear what Byard had to say when he sat down for an interview on Bleacher Report’s “The Lefkoe Show” regarding New England’s prospects in a post-Gronkowski world.
“I think they’ll still find a way,” Byard predicted. “Knowing Tom Brady, he won Super Bowls before Gronkowski. So I think he’ll find a way. I think they’ll retool their offense a little bit, and he always knows how to get those mismatches. If he has to throw it to the running back 100 times, James White, if that’s what he has to do get the chains moving, I think he’ll do that.”
The Titans safety seems to know what he’s talking about – early reports judging New England’s offseason personnel moves seem to suggest a trend towards prioritizing the running backs and taller, bigger wide receivers in the offense, rather than focusing on employing tight ends and smaller, shiftier wide receivers. There’s still a lot of time between now and the start of the regular season, but the Patriots’ free agency and draft maneuverings thus far do support this idea.
Byard also hilariously documented what his experience was like traveling up to Gillette Stadium for postseason football, and seeing Tom Brady run out of the tunnel to Jay-Z’s “Public Service Announcement” blasting on the big speakers around the stadium.
"“That was my first time playing him, and they got him running out of the tunnel with the Jay-Z music, and it was like ‘Oh, man, this is real.’ And it’s funny because our defensive coordinator back then, Dick LeBeau, I think it was maybe Tom Brady’s eighth or ninth time playing against him and I think he probably went back to some old film back when they were playing the Steelers back in the day. It seems like he had our number every single time. It was almost like he knew exactly what we was gonna run, switching the run this way, screen this way, dump it off here, touchdown. It’s just like, oh man, here we go again.”"
Based off Brady’s own well-documented timeline for how long he plans to play in the NFL, there’s a decent chance Byard won’t get another crack at facing him unless both teams square off in the playoffs again. If and when that happens, you can bet the Titans safety won’t be as starstruck by the gravity of the moment… especially not after he helped his team avenge that loss last season.
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Patriots fans everywhere are no doubt hoping and trusting that Byard’s words come true. There’s no replacing the type of statistical monster that Rob Gronkowski was for New England the past nine seasons; but if there’s any team that can survive – and even thrive – after the loss of one of its best players, it’s the Patriots.