FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady arrived for his weekly news conference Wednesday wearing a gray sweatshirt without sleeves, giving it the look of a muscle shirt. Brady relayed that he took it from receiver Brandon LaFell.
"When you've got guns like this, you've got to show these things off," Brady cracked. "I've been working hard on these things."
Brady then touched on a number of topics, including facing Aaron Rodgers for the first time with both as starters. He laughed when informed that coach Bill Belichick said the similarity he sees between him and Rodgers is that they both wear No. 12.
"That's probably as close as we'll get right there," Brady said. "He's just phenomenal, a great player. I always love watching him play because he does things that a lot of guys in the league can't do; that nobody can really do except him. For a quarterback, I really know how hard it is to do that, especially on a consistent basis, and he's been as consistent as anybody who has ever played the position, so I've got a lot of respect for him."
One common link between the two is their lack of interceptions. Rodgers has just three this season, while Brady has six.
If a quarterback makes a mistake against the Packers, it usually ends up resulting in points.
"They have the highest percentage of scores after you turn the ball over than any team in the league. That's a big reason why they're getting ahead at home because they get ahead of you, you start to press, you turn it over, they convert into more touchdowns, and it just piles on," Brady said. "You've got to keep the game close and keep it competitive, and I think Aaron has done a great job in his career of not turning the ball over. He's got all the ability in the world."
A few other sound bites from Brady:
Conversations with Rodgers. "I've known Aaron for a long time. We always enjoy seeing each other, and that's what both of us love to do is talk football. I'm always trying to learn from him. There's a lot to talk about. I don't know if there are so many specifics other than I'm probably trying to get into his brain a little bit and he's trying to get into mine. I think there are a lot of things that they do offensively that are really good. Everyone does things differently on offense. Everyone's goal is to score points. You look at another team's style and how they do it and you just want to understand how they're doing it and see if you can learn something and maybe implement it into what your team does. They're pretty spectacular at what they do. They've got a great team, great offense. He is obviously one of the best players to ever play the position, so there is a lot to learn from."
Belichick teaching about the Packers history. "He's got such a great memory. I think he is always trying to educate us on different things. He's done that for a while. He just kind of gives some young players who are maybe new to the league [insight]. Coach is really a historian, too. He's been involved in NFL football for a long time. I think he really relishes these opportunities, whether it's the Raiders or the Bears or something like this against the Packers, a team that's been around for a long time with so many great teams and players and games over the years. He just gives some players some insight into what this team is all about."
Importance of TD-INT radio. "To score points, you need a lot of consistent effort over the course of the game. If you're throwing it or running it in, it's not a big difference in terms of the score at all, obviously. But turnovers limit your scoring. That's the problem with turnovers. You can't score if you're turning it over. It's like a punt. If you go out and you punt 12 times, you're not scoring points. That's not good. So, when you turn the ball over and throw interceptions, you're giving the other team more opportunities and your team less opportunities. Not that they're going to take advantage of it every single time, but the odds are they're going to take advantage of it more than they're not."