A day after a handful of teammates expressed their feelings regarding the loss of Josh Gordon, both Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski weighed in about the receivers’ suspension, and where the offense goes from here.
Asked for his initial reaction to the news, Brady didn't offer much.
“There wasn’t much reaction," he said when he heard the news.
“We all wish him the best. I think that is kind of how we all feel. We want him to do what is right for him.”
Did it come as a shock?
“That is exactly how I felt," he said. "I certainly appreciate his effort and all his hard work. I didn’t have much of a reaction. (I'm) just focused on what I need to do. That is kind of what it has been all year.”
Brady was also asked if he's reached out to Gordon since Thursday, but said that’s a personal thing, and he would keep that to himself.
As for Gronkowski, he echoed many of Brady’s thoughts.
“He was a great teammate to have, a great guy to have around in the locker room,” the tight end said of Gordon. “We’re definitely going to miss him. I wish him nothing but the best. All other matters, you’ll have to directly talk to him. But he was a great teammate to have around.”
Gronkowski was asked about the need to step things up on the offensive side with Gordon out of the picture.
“You’ve got to,” he said. “Coming down to crunch time, end of the year, we’ve got to pick it up, including myself. We’ve got to go out there and make plays. ... I feel like the offense really doesn’t need to change. I feel like players like myself just need to step up and start making plays.
“We’ve just got to come out and play together — play how we know we can play,” he added. “Everyone doing their roles, everyone doing what they need to do to help spark the offense, to help keep the drives going, to help pick up a third down on a drive, to make a touchdown in the red area. Everyone’s got to pick it up, including myself, and play hard.”
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