Tom Brady isn't going to jump to any conclusions when it comes to welcoming Antonio Brown to New England.
In his weekly radio interview with Westwood One's Jim Gray, the Patriots quarterback was asked about the team's history of bringing in players with baggage, though Brady seemed optimistic about the wide receiver's direction after meeting him earlier that day.
"You don’t judge anything," Brady said. "I’m not judging anything before I've had a chance to go out and practice and prepare. You know, Antonio, meeting him today I really enjoyed being around him, he’s a very smart football player, knows how to play the game. He’s been extremely productive.
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"The only thing that I know what we can do is to go out there and work at it to meet and to communicate and get on the practice field and go through things. I’m not buying into any hype or potential. I’m into work. He’s into work and our entire offense is into doing what’s in the best interest for the team and I’m really excited to get to practice on Wednesday."
Brady added that he looks forward to building chemistry with his new target, though there is a sense of urgency to get Brown ready for Week 2 against the Dolphins after the receiver missed Sunday's routing of his former team, the Steelers.
"We’re going to meet as much as we possibly can," Brady said. "I think that the quarterback-receiver relationship is so important. The more you know each other, the more you know what each other are thinking, the faster you can accelerate the trust and confidence in one another when you get on the field. I have had that with a lot of guys that I have played with. Certainly guys that are on the roster now, Julian [Edelman], Phillip Dorsett, Josh [Gordon].
"But, when you haven’t played with guys, you have to try and do it as quickly as possible. The clock is ticking on us right now. This is not the offseason program. This is about real games that count, and we’re going to try and spend as much time as we can together and really get up to speed and talking with what our roles and responsibilities are."
Brown officially signed with the Patriots on what should have been his debut day in Oakland, though the Raiders handled the Broncos without him as fans angrily taped over, and even burned, his jersey in the parking lots.
We'll see if Brown's offseason drama will carry into the regular season when he finally hits the field.
Miami is slated to host New England on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.