Brady grades plan a D

FOXBOROUGH -- His status as two-time Super Bowl Most Valuable Player has given Tom Brady the opportunity to endorse not only products but the strategies of his team. And while he may be speaking highly -- while being paid handsomely -- of various commercial items, the same can't be said of his remarks about a particular experiment taking place with the Patriots.

Yesterday, the Patriots quarterback was asked how he feels about Troy Brown being used on defense, and while Brady wasn't critical of anyone in particular, it was clear what he thought about seeing Brown, a favorite receiver, playing cornerback in the exhibition season.

"I want to see him on offense full time, to tell you the truth," Brady said. "It just wears on his legs playing defense. I don't need to help the defense out. I want my weapons on offense fresh."

Brady did acknowledge that it's someone else's job to look at the big picture. "Coach [Bill Belichick] is going to make the call," said Brady. "If Troy is going to play defense, they are going to need him on defense, and I think that is great for the team. Like I said, I want him with the guys playing offense. I don't make the decisions, so it doesn't matter really what I think. Troy does a great job over there [on defense]. He knows our offensive plays, which has probably helped him out a little bit. It's fun watching him running around the last couple of games."

Brady's sentiments seem in lockstep with those of a few other Patriots, who have rolled their eyes and bit their lips when asked about Brown's switch in position.

While Brady spreads the ball around to many receivers, it's obvious Brown is his main guy based on the veteran receiver's experience and his ability to get open and make the big play. With the Patriots beginning to plan this week for regular-season games, one wonders whether the Brown experiment might be over for now.

Along with the increased emphasis on the regular season, Brady is looking forward to Saturday's exhibition game in Carolina because it will pit the combatants in February's Super Bowl. Brady didn't know a lot about quarterback Jake Delhomme before they met in the Super Bowl, but now he's impressed.

Delhomme is one of those wonderful rags-to-riches stories: a career backup who suddenly hit the big time and nearly won the Super Bowl. His 2003 performance led to a six-year, $38 million deal, which eclipsed the five-year, $30 million deal Brady signed after he won his first Super Bowl in 2001.

Brady and Delhomme are worlds apart in their personalities -- Delhomme is the country boy and family man who likes pickup trucks and horses, while Brady is the dashing bachelor from California who dates movie actresses. Yet Brady is the first to notice similarities.

"He didn't start the year as the starter, comes in the first game and brings the team back, and has been a starter ever since," said Brady. "He does a lot of things really well. He has good velocity, runs well, makes good decisions. Tough guy. Very energetic. He's got some great leadership qualities. I think all of the guys really seem to play hard for him. And I would think this year he's going to be better than he was last year. He had a great year, especially the way he played in the Super Bowl."

Brady feels the timing of this game is good for the Patriots after their abysmal showing against the Bengals, since it throws them into the fire against a team that is going to be filled with adrenaline.

"I know they will be [excited], and that's kind of what we're expecting and that's what we are going to prepare for," said Brady. "But I think we are pretty excited, too, based on what happened last week. And also we are playing a team that we want to go out and beat. So, we are going to go down there, we'll show up, and be ready to go Saturday night."

Brady said this week of practice has started much better than the previous week.

"As a competitor, you want to go out there and play your best every time out," said Brady. "Certainly last Saturday night wasn't our best. Coach kind of warned us. He said, `You guys have to start practicing better. If you want to execute better on game day, you have to go execute better on practice days.'

"Yesterday we had a good practice, and that is what it is going to take if we want to beat a team like Carolina and get one step closer to our preparation for [the opener Sept. 9 against Indianapolis]."