National Football League

Tom Brady vs. Bill Belichick: Latest buzz ahead of Buccaneers-Patriots

Updated Sep. 30, 2021 1:48 p.m. ET

It's not often one regular-season NFL game towers alone, well above the rest of the action.

But it's also not every week that Tom Brady makes his return to take on the New England Patriots.

Ever since the 2021 schedule was announced, Brady's return to Foxborough — where he spent the first two decades of his Hall of Fame career before joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ahead of the 2020 season — was circled on the calendar in permanent marker.

The marquee matchup, headlined as Brady vs. Bill Belichick, is rife with storylines and the requisite hype. The chatter and anticipation started well before the season began, and both swelled as Sunday's game drew closer.

Here is the latest from both the Brady and Belichick camps, along with what pundits are saying ahead of the clash.

Sept. 29 – Mac Jones on the mic

New England's (presumable) quarterback of the future, Jones has some big shoes to fill in Foxborough. Although Cam Newton was the first starting QB in the post-Brady era, Jones is viewed as the next franchise QB.

When he spoke about Brady's return, the rookie quarterback downplayed the head-to-head aspect of facing Brady.

"It’s not like one person versus one person, so I think that a lot of it is 11 on 11, and that’s what goes into it, and that’s how they’re going to look at it," Jones said Wednesday. "That’s how every team looks at it. It’s just you’re getting a chance to compete in a primetime game, and that's just kind of what it is."

Sept. 29 – A not-so-fond farewell?

Belichick reportedly spurned Brady's attempts to say farewell in person and instead bid his goodbye to the quarterback over the phone, as detailed by ESPN's Seth Wickersham in his yet-to-be-released book titled "It's Better To Be Feared."

Talk about timely. Naturally, Belichick was in no mood to dive deeper into the subject during his news conference Wednesday.

"Good morning. What's going on?" Belichick asked reporters with a wry smile as he opened the media session. "Got any stories this week?"

Regarding the book, Belichick said, "It sounds like it's a lot of second-, third- and fourth-hand comments. But I'm not going to get into that. I'm going to focus on this game and try to prepare for the Bucs."

The excerpts from the book indeed caused a buzz Wednesday. Colin Cowherd weighed in on what he'd read and offered his thoughts on "The Herd."

Sept. 28 – Brady "not going to necessarily reminisce" in return to New England

Keeping a singular focus on the task at hand — in this case, winning — has been a calling card that has worked quite well for Brady throughout his career.

Leading up to the game, the QB acknowledged that being a visitor at Gillette Stadium will be a new experience, but he said his concentration will be on the game, not the moment.

Here is what Brady had to say on the "Let’s Go! with Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray" podcast:

"I'm not going to necessarily reminisce. I don't think this is the moment for that. I'll have plenty of opportunities to reminisce about my football career — none of which I really care to do right now because I'm so much in the moment. I'm not going to be thinking about 20 years of history. I'm going to be thinking about one night of football, a Sunday night game coming off a really tough loss."

It's that kind of focus that had Chris Broussard of "First Things First" explaining why he is buying every word Brady is saying.

Brady will be able to stay in the moment and not fall victim to the pomp and circumstance of the occasion, Broussard said Wednesday, and that's what makes the QB the GOAT.

Sept. 27 – Belichick: "It wasn't a question of not wanting him"

Belichick addressed the Brady departure in a Monday interview with WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show" and indicated that he wanted Brady to stay all along.

"He looked at his options and made a decision," Belichick said. "We weren't as good an option as Tampa. So, I mean, you'd have to ask him about all that. But it wasn't a question of not wanting him, that's for sure."

When pressed further on his comments, Belichick stuck to praising Brady for his contributions and said he and the Patriots are focused on the game.

"I'm not going to go back and rehash all that," Belichick said. "We've talked about that. The focus is on the game here. … We made a statement when Tom left, and that covered it."

Asked if Brady's quick success in Tampa was surprising, Belichick said, "Nothing surprises me that he does."

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Sept. 26 – Settling the stage for a rebound

Both Brady and Belichick suffered losses in Week 3, clearing the runway for one of these teams to bounce back with a win (assuming they don't tie) Sunday.

For the Patriots, they were smacked 28-13 by the New Orleans Saints at Gillette Stadium, with rookie QB Mac Jones throwing three interceptions in the loss.

Meanwhile, the Bucs took an L in L.A., falling 34-24 against the Los Angeles Rams. That loss spoiled Skip Bayless' prediction of an undefeated season for the Buccaneers but didn't quite shake the "Undisputed" pundit's faith in Brady & Co.

Sept. 23 – TB12 talks about buzz, his time with the Pats

Brady didn't directly refer to his dad or Alex Guerrero and their respective comments — which can be seen below — in a news conference Thursday, but he did address them in a roundabout way.

"Everyone has protected feelings and emotions as friends and family members, and that’s just part of being in sports," Brady said via the Tampa Bay Times. "You have a lot of people who, because they’re not out there, they just want to protect, and it’s a caring, loving thing that a lot of people do."

Brady also spoke about the "great respect and admiration from my time" in New England, as well as how he's enjoying life in Tampa Bay.

"I had 20 great years there. I kind of spoke that the last 18 months," he said. "It was a great time in my life. But I’m really happy to be here, and I think we’ve done some great things in a short period of time. I really love the teammates that I’m playing with here. I love the coaches. The organization has been amazing. Again, it's just a lot of gratitude."

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Sept. 23 – Brady's longtime trainer says Belichick "didn't evolve"

Tom Brady's personal trainer, Alex Guerrero, happens to be one of his closest friends and his business partner in the "TB12 Method" health and wellness regime. It's safe to say Guerrero is about as close to Brady as a source who is willing to speak about the quarterback can get.

"He’s older, so he should be treated differently," Guerrero told the Boston Herald. "And all the players, none of them would have cared that he was treated differently. I think that was such a Bill thing. He never evolved. So you can’t treat someone who’s in his 40s like they’re 20. It doesn’t work."

Notably, Guerrero apparently had a frosty relationship with Belichick. In 2017, Belichick stripped Guerrero of several team privileges after the trainer was previously able to fly on the team plane and had sideline access, per Boston.com.

Nevertheless, Guerrero told the Herald he could see an alternate universe in which Brady remained in New England with Belichick and enjoyed success.

"People could have made different choices, and they could have rode out into the sunset together," he said. "That could have been a pretty cool story, too."

Sept. 21 – Brady Sr. feeling vindicated after son's success in Tampa

Early last week, Tom Brady Sr. joined NBC Sports Boston's Tom Curran for a chat about the saga and didn't hold back.

Here is what he had to say when asked if his son winning the Super Bowl in his first year away from New England offered a measure of vindication:

"Damn right," Brady Sr. said. "Belichick wanted him out the door … "

When asked if his son felt the same?

"Damn right," the elder Brady repeated with a nod.

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