Tom Brady is well aware that the New England Patriots are going up a strong defense when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. The quarterback is tasked with preparing a young wide receivers corps to face top secondary athletes like safety Dashon Goldson and Darrelle Revis. Despite Tampa Bay being 0-2, Brady is not overlooking a unit that could make the Patriots' day feel very long.
Brady has his eye on one player come Sunday, Revis. The New England quarterback is very aware of what the cornerback brings onto the field after facing him several times while he was with the Jets. Despite still recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL, Brady believes Revis is just as good, if not better, than he was prior to the injury.
"He looks like the same," Brady said, via the Boston Herald. "There's nothing negative about his playing style, there's nothing negative about his skill set. He can really do it all. He's fast, he's quick, matches up against small guys, matches up against big guys. He's really long, he's really strong, he's patient. Some guys you really guess all the time and sometimes you guess wrong, he never guesses wrong. He's smart, he sees the whole field. I've never played against anyone who is as good as him. He's as good as there is that I've ever played against, so you just have to be careful when you throw his way because you know he's going to be close."
Fantasy owners should be cautious, Revis could prove to be too much for players like Julian Edelman and Aaron Dobson. Right now with Danny Amendola out with an injury, Edelman is the leading receiver for the Patriots. He is tied with Andre Johnson with 20 grabs on the season and will get all the attention of Revis.
Edelman has very little experience facing Revis in his first four years in the league. The remaining receivers corps have a total of 11 receptions in the last two weeks, so Edelman is aware that he will be responsible for facing the cornerbacks.
"I'm expecting to go out there and try to do my job, whoever is on me, whatever coverage we see. Ultimately, right now, we're just thinking about going out there, getting these practices down and trying to take the stuff from the classroom to the grass," Edelman said. "You don't necessarily know what this team is going to do, so you've got to practice what you see on the tape and go from there and try to execute."
Edelman simply describes Revis as big and strong. Brady is stressing that it will take a total team effort to get past the Buccaneers on Sunday and Revis will be the biggest obstacle.