FOXBORO, Mass. — Count Reggie Wayne among those who didn’t believe that Tom Brady was washed up after a few uncharacteristically mediocre games to start the 2014 NFL season.
Wayne has been playing against Brady since 2001, when the Indianapolis Colts wide receiver was selected in the first round of the NFL draft and the New England Patriots quarterback took over the starting role from Drew Bledsoe, so he knows what to expect from the legendary signal caller at this point. Wayne seemed more concerned about maintaining his own high level of play when asked how both players have fended off Father Time.
“I dealt with an ACL last year, did a lot of rehab and did a lot of thinking,” Wayne said Wednesday in a conference call with the New England media. “During that time I realized I still love this game, I still love the game of football and I want to go out and play the game that I love. I’ve been dreaming of being an NFL player since I was 7 years old and I’m still having an opportunity to fulfill that dream. That’s what makes me — I wouldn’t say I’ve beaten Father Time. He’s jabbing me, don’t get me wrong. It’s definitely an opportunity for me to just do the things that I love and football is one of them.”
Wayne has 42 catches for 504 yards and two touchdowns for the Colts this season, and he received some high praise from Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on Wednesday. Wayne returned some mutual admiration to the Patriots, saying Brady hasn’t shown signs of slowing down despite the QB’s advanced age.
“Not at all. I think he’s jabbing Father Time,” Wayne said. “When you sit back and you watch him, it just seems like the same calm and collected guy that sits back there, he takes what the defense gives him and he just picks you apart. That’s one thing that I think our defense realizes, that if we’re not on our ‘Ps and Qs’ it can get ugly real fast. We all saw what New England did to us in the playoffs last year and two years ago when we went to New England.
“It’s one of those things that if we don’t go out there and play this team without committing any turnovers and things like that, it can get ugly pretty fast. That’s what you don’t want on a nationally televised game. We kind of had a little taste of that when we played Pittsburgh a few weeks ago. Hopefully we can go in with that mindset that we’re not going to have that happen on a nationally televised game and it will be a different story.”
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