Tom's take

FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots QB Tom Brady answered questions from the media today in the Gillette Stadium locker room and talked about his excitement of having Troy Brown back on the team.

"It's great," he said. "I know he's excited. He's been working very hard for a long time, and it's great to have him up and available. I sure hope he makes a big impact on the team. He always does just with his leadership and his ability to kind of bring people together, and always has positive words. He's a great leader, he's a great teammate. Everybody loves having Troy around."

Brady also touched on the challenge of facing the "experienced, battle-tested" Ravens, and was specifically asked about safety Ed Reed. Brady joked about the admiration that Patriots coach Bill Belichick has for Reed.

"He wants to adopt Ed Reed," Brady cracked. "It's going to be Ed Belichick.

"I know he coached him at the Pro Bowl last year and as a defensive coach I think you look at a player who is such a game-changer. He coached Lawrence Taylor and he knew what an impact on the game that Lawrence Taylor had, and I think Ed Reed is similar -- but in different ways. Really a game-changer. He's a ballhawk. He covers so much ground back there. He's really smart. He's really aware. He loves football. He has all the great qualities of a great defensive player. I'll tell you, he better run after the game is over because Coach is going to try to bring him back on the plane with us, if he could."