Tom Brady in the role of mentor

Just curious -- where was Brady during the game? I expected to see him on the sideline, but I don't think he was there.

Don Brady can't be on the field to injury concerns......example:Charlie Weis

Brady didnt make the trip to NY, he is presumably still having his knee watched... is there a surgery scheduled yet?

Can Brady mentor Cassel on how to throw the deep ball to Moss?????

You give him 9 million a year, give him a chance to at least earn that money. The guy is a stud.

Hey Brent,,,,he already earned it by having his knee blown up....

Hey Brent, give Cassel a break. Brady underthrows Moss, too. On the bomb Sunday, Moss still almost pulled it in. For Cassel's first start, I'll take it. I expect this offense to develop. Going deep to Moss will be part of it.

I hope he would not be on the sideline, what if he got hit by a player flying out of bounds, wouldn't that be great.

Why aren't people discussing how great an asset this will be to Matt Cassell and ultimately the offence for this year ?

Tom Brady is still the leader of this team. What a consumate team player.

He will be able to sit down with Cassell and give him pointers on where to improve his game, etc ...

Cassell is damn lucky he has this and Bill will make sure he uses to the fullest extent. Imagine, being able to learn from the best ?

ON A SIDE NOTE ... Brett Favre refused to tutor / assist Aaron Rodgers in any way, shape or form for 3 full years in Green Bay

My guess is we won't see Brady at any of the away games.Too much of a distraction to the team,too many foolish questions to have to answer etc.

"My guess is we won't see Brady at any of the away games.Too much of a distraction to the team,too many foolish questions to have to answer etc."

I agree. The team doesn't need everyone concentrating on what Brady's doing on the sidelines. Plus, Brady needs to spend every minute he has over the next 9 months doing whatever it takes to rehab himself back in time for next year

Tom Brady is a class act and as far as Im concerned so are the Patriots. Unfortunately I live in Packer country and I know what Brett Farve is like. He never wanted to help out Aaron Rodgers at all because he said no one helped him when he first came to the NFL. Typical Farve behavior......selfish. I cant stand him!

I think when players get injured, there are a lot more practical considerations that go into whether they are available during rehab and I think his being around is just coincidental and won't last, especially after his surgery in 3 weeks. For example, if Brady has just come off a rehab session, it may be more practical to have him at home putting his leg up with ice to reduce the swelling and not having him drive or stand all over the place. The same with games: it is a hell of an effort to just ride crutches for several hours standing up and you can see squat that way on the sideline as opposed to watching it on a TV. Brady is 6'5", how about the considerations of having him on an airplane with his stiff leg out for a 5 hour flight to San Francisco. I DON'T THINK SO. His 1st job right now is to get better and to minimize setbacks, and hey the mental recharge from spending some time on the couch with Giselle is something he has earned in spades.

I've seen several comments referring that Cassel was playing a conservative game plan, & I don't buy into it. When you look back at the game, Moss was being double covered throughout the game when going downfield, he was able to break free only a couple of times, & Cassel threw to him on each of those opportunitys. The one play that every one brings up, the ball was tossed like a duck as if it had been deflected, & Moss was unable to corral it.I think the approach was not as conservative as the sports media suggests, instead, Cassel took advantage of what was given him, just the same as Brady has done throughout his career. It's the Belichick Game plan; Design it to work against the other team's weakness(es), & then adjust to what they are doing. You have to recognize that Cassel did well to recognize what was there & tried to take advatage of it when it was open, otherwise he was able to check off, & make the other option successful, just like Brady. as bad as he may have looked during the Preseason, he sure looked like he was ablee to read the field well, make his reads prior to the snap, & get the ball into the correct players hands often enough to succeed & help the team win.

I expect Matt to improve every week and hopefully with his determination he will be a "not too bad" QB. Look what Tom did replacing Drew Bledsoe. NOTE: We soon forget that Brady himself didn't play much as a back up in Michigan.

FYI:

Matt Cassel's first start: 16/23, 165 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs
Tom Brady's first start: 13/23, 168 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs

WOW some people really are idiots (NoVa Pats Fan and JayDub) I wasn't taking a shot a Cassel at all. All I was trying to point out is that they would never allow a player with a torn ACL and MCl to hang around 2 yards from the field of play. Please stop watching football since you have no knowledge.

"I've seen several comments referring that Cassel was playing a conservative game plan, & I don't buy into it"

When you run on 2nd and 3rd down inside the redzone, you are being conservative on offense. If you can watch the pats games the last few years, conservative is not what brady is being. Of course they are being conservative with cassel in there. The pats averaged 38 points a game last year, they are averaging 18 right now. If you can't see that, you need football 101 help.

bottom line though... the Jets D isn't that good and we would be in trouble if playing against IND/SD with great offense and great D... We need to blow out(or have 2 td leads) inferior teams(miami is a start) to show we can be offensive too.

If I recall correctly, on the deep pass to Moss that fell short, there was a blitz coming straight at Matt Cassell and he did not have time to step fully into the throw. That is what it appeared to me but the TV coverage didn't show it.

Clearly, it was the type of pass that Brady tends to put on the money time after time. But Cassell still managed to put up a through that was catchable, although less easily than it might have been.

Looking forward to week 3 at this point.

And, it's ok if Farvy boy did not get tutored as a young quarterback. He got some good learning from Adalus Thomas on Sunday. That sack was awesome and I was disappointed it did not make Deions top 10 on NFL.com.

I hope that Tom Brady can gives Matt Cassel adivice as he can during his rehab and things that a quarterback can handle. He is very helpful to the team and they greatful in that part.

It is amazing how many times I have heard the question "why isn't Brady at the game" as if to question his loyalty. How have you all missed the 97 articles on ACL/MCL surgery/rehabilitation??? The inflammed area has to reduce and some suggest that the MCL has to begin to stabilize before they can operate. So why on earth would he get on a plane and stand on a sideline? Plus Paul's valid comments surrounding the media circus. I imagine he wants to make it easier for Cassel to have face time as the leader as well which he will need to ease into. Blair-thanks for the common sense from CA.

"NOTE: We soon forget that Brady himself didn't play much as a back up in Michigan."

Um, Brady beat out Henson for the starting job and started every game in the 1998 and 1999 seasons. I'm not trying to put down Cassel or his potential but let's get real here.

This is the kind of team first atmosphere that Bill has promoted and it is this that has brought the Pats 3 SB wins. Tom is doing what is known as Karma Yoga.
God Bless him.

I don't think Brady will be at any of the games, he is to much of a team player to cause a distraction, Matt Cassell will do fine, It's like putting a back up QB into a Corvette. Cassell throws a good pass and he has been Brady's understudy for 4 years. (what else would you expect) its a BB team he has it down to science now.

I will admit that I was one that was surpirsed that the team kept Cassel, I even posted about it in a few places. I guess that is why they pay BB and SP instead of me. I am pleasantly surprised watching him on the field. I guess some people respond well when the pressure is on. I am now a believer in Matt and I expect him to get better as he has more opportunity to work with the team. I know I am not alone when I say that when Tom went down I thought that was it for this year, but I am hopefull again.
As far as Tom mentoring I am sure that he is helping Matt any way he can, Bledsoe helped him and I am sure he will do the same. He is team player on a team where that is the foundation.

What we have to also keep in mind is we never saw Cassel play in a game in which something was on the line. We've been spoiled by 7 years of Brady starting and playing in every game since he stepped in for Bledsoe.
Pre-season this year, with Brady on the sideline, was more of a "play to stay on the team" process. In the past when Cassel came into a game, it was mop up duty. A totally different mindset than having to start a game and be responsible from the beginning for the team's success. It seems Cassel stepped up quite well. As "Tony in Cleveland" said.. be glad BB and SP are being paid to make roster decisions because they must have known someting we fans don't. The supporting cast around Matt is considered the best in the NFL. Be glad we can root for such a team.

I've had this surgery. When swelling is down and depending on hamstring or cadaver replacement for the ACL anything he offers now is gravy. Say goodbye for 4 weeks due to automated mtion machines and enjoy that he is helping now. In 8 weeks he can be a locker room coach, this rehab SUCKS

Isn't there a rule against having players on the IR on the sideline? I don't think inactive players are allowed on the sideline of a game.

Duh....Brent....did I say you took a shot at Cassel? No...you took a shot at Brady
"You give him 9 million a year, give him a chance to at least earn that money. "Brady has already earned his money by having his knee blown out....gee...can you give me lessons on how to watch football? I really wanna learn who should/shouldn't be on the sideline...clearly, with all the brilliant in-sight you are tossing around, you must be on BB's speed dial in case he needs a side-line coach.....