One Touchdown Away From 400, Tom Brady Focused On Jaguars
BOSTON (CBS) -- Just one touchdown pass away from a career milestone, Tom Brady will likely join a pretty special group on Sunday.
But another career accolade isn't at the forefront of the quarterback's mind this week. Instead, Brady is studying hard to learn all he can about Sunday's unfamiliar opponent, the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team he hasn't seen since December 2012.
"It's a good challenge for us. It's a little bit of a different week with a team we don't know very much. We really spent the last two days trying to understand their personal and scheme," Brady explained at his locker on Wednesday. "They've gotten off to a better start this year than they have in the past, and that was a big win against the Dolphins last week. I'm sure they'll be fired up and ready to go, hopefully we can bring the same level of energy. It's going to take some good execution, so I'm excited about that."
Brady has never lost to the Jaguars over his 16-year NFL career, going 4-0 in regular season contests and 2-0 in playoff matchups. In those six bouts, he's thrown 15 touchdowns and just two interceptions.
But these Jags come in 1-1 on the season after a 23-20 win over the Dolphins last Sunday. With a young team and just two weeks of game film, there really isn't much for the Patriots to go on as they prepare for Sunday's tilt.
"You just try to gather as much info as you can in a short period of time," said Brady. "Trying to just watch film and compare it to players we've played in the past. We've played a few of those players and know a little bit, but obviously not the entirety of it or within the scheme they're trying to play. Coach quizzed us pretty hard this morning on all facets of the game, but it's going to take a great week of practice and execution to go out and beat them."
As for that career milestone, Brady needs just one more touchdown pass to reach 400 for his career. He would become just the fourth passer to accomplish such a feat, joining Dan Marino, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning as the only quarterbacks to do so.
When asked about potentially throwing touchdown No. 400 on Sunday, Brady took a normal play out of his playbook and deferred all the praise to his teammates throughout the years.
"I've played with so many great players, and anything that has ever been achieved by me as an individual is a reflection of what our team has been about," he said. "I've been blessed to be on the best team organization in sports and played with so many great players and teammates. You have to have everyone block, everyone do their job and run the ball to set up opportunities like that."
Asked for his perspective on the milestone on Wednesday, Bill Belichick downplayed it as well.
"Tom is a great player and we have all said that plenty of times. I don't really care about any records this week; we just need to beat Jacksonville," said Belichick. "Setting records, that's a very, very low priority around here, other than a winning record. That's important.
"I don't think he'll care about it, I don't think I'll care about it and I don't think [offensive coordinator] Josh [McDaniels] will care about it," added Belichick. "We only care about winning."
The Patriots will obviously have to find the end zone in order to walk away with their third win of the season on Sunday. But Brady doesn't care how it gets done, just as long as they put points on the board.
"As long as we're scoring points I'm happy. I really don't care if we throw them in or hand it off, or if the defense scores," he said. "However we can score points and win games, that's all that matters to me. That's what matters most."
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