Tom Brady: Revis like Ed Reed & Ray Lewis

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was a guest on Boston sports-radio station WEEI on Monday morning, as part of his weekly in-season interview, and he shared insight on what it’s like to practice against cornerback Darrelle Revis.

In doing so, Brady drew a connection to former Baltimore Ravens Ed Reed and Ray Lewis.

"It’s been so fun to go against him because he challenges every throw, he challenges every play, he’s really just so smart and so instinctive," Brady said.

"I played against Ed Reed for a long time and just a little bit of an example, Ed Reed he'd play the deep middle of the field but sometimes he’d make tackles 3 yards from the line of scrimmage when his responsibility was 40 yards down the field. You’d say, 'God, how did he know that the team was running a shallow cross?' He just knew. He saw something and that freedom of his deep-field responsibility allowed him to play with confidence that the ball was going to be [in] a certain spot.

"That’s a lot how 'Reeve' is. You don’t know what he sees, or what he knows, but he always is in the right place and has incredible instincts for a corner when sometimes he runs the routes [before] the receivers. He has great intuition and he obviously sees everything on the field. He sees the quarterback, he sees the split of the receiver, he sees the eyes of the receiver, he sees the technique of the receiver coming off the line of scrimmage, and it’s probably hard for him explain at times what he sees. He just sees everything and he makes great breaks on the ball. That’s what makes a great defensive player -- the anticipation.

"Ray Lewis was another one, where when you would play-action, he wouldn’t even step toward the line of scrimmage. He would just drop back into a zone, and when you’d run the ball, he’s be downhill faster than anybody. He just recognized plays and combinations; it’s a great skill and the instincts for a particular player.

"'Reeve' has definitely got all those traits, and I knew that when I played against him with the Jets. He was so good for them. He eliminates a big part of the field for a particular offense, so you always have to know what you’re doing when you throw the ball in his area, because you know he’s going to be right there closing on the ball."


(espn.com)