I don’t think too many people believed that it would take Tom Brady and Deion Branch weeks upon weeks to get their timing back down. Nevertheless, it was fairly remarkable that the duo picked up right where they left off. Brady connected with Branch on nine passes for 98 yards and one touchdown during New England’s 23-20 overtime victory over the Baltimore Ravens.
On Monday, Branch joined The Dan Patrick Show to talk about his return to New England. You can find a few excerpts from the interview below (via: SRI)
On the timing that he and Tom Brady still seem to have:
“I just think it’s a lot of work. I heard Tom speaking to somebody yesterday about the chemistry that we have. I think the biggest thing is the work that we put in in practice, the preparation. I think, out of the four years that I spent here in my earlier days, my first four years, we threw a lot of balls in the offseason, OTAs, training camp, a lot of passes. We did a lot of soul-searching on the football field with each other and I think that’s what’s showing up on Sunday.”
On how much different the later stages of the game were for him compared to early on:
“There really wasn’t a difference. I think it was all about us settling down … from the first half to the second half. I’m never one that’s going to come in and be complaining about balls, ‘Throw me the ball, throw me the ball.’”
On the difference between the Patriots now as opposed to when he left in 2006:
“I think the only thing is you’ve got the youth movement now, where as back then you had the veteran guys, the leadership by all the veterans. Now I think, with the handful of veterans on the team, we’re the ones that have to go out and lead and show these guys what it takes and how to perform when you have games such as yesterday’s. The thing about these young guys, they want it and you can see it in their eyes, you can see it when they take the field. … These guys are trying, the effort is there and you can see them growing together.”