Monkeys With Typewriters

Tom Brady speaks to the media at Gillette Stadium

AP Photo/Steven Senne

While the rest of the world is bust celebrating Christmas this week, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are preparing for what Brady is calling a “playoff game,” a Sunday afternoon match against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Brady spoke of the game, reflected on the season thus far and talked about his feeling of practicing on Christmas Day. Despite having a newborn son at home, the quarterback told the media on Wednesday that he didn’t mind spending the time with the team on Christmas, stating “We’ve got to win. That will make for a great Christmas.”

He also took some time to look back on 2009, which included coming back from his season-ending knee injury in 2008. He called the year “very rewarding” especially with he and his teammates faced “adversity” this season but had the mental toughness to bounce back. “I think it’s going to be - you know, obviously, if we win, we win the division. That’s a great goal for us,” Brady added.

While Brady spoke briefly about the Indianapolis Colts undefeated 14-0 season, he was focused on his immediate target, the Jacksonville Jaguars. Brady noted that cornerback Rashean Mathis was on his radar, calling him “a weapon for them” with good ball skills, long arms, good speed and “explosiveness.”

Brady explained that he is well aware of the strengths of the Jaguars and magnitude of this game, calling it a playoff game. He added, “Our responsibility as players is to understand what they do and how they do it and why they’re doing things they do and not play to their strengths, but figure out the things they don’t do so well and try to play to those. Yeah, you just don’t ever want to take things for granted, in football or in life. That’s my lesson for the day.”