Pats owner Kraft says Brady ‘has a lot of play left’

Tom Brady is entering his 15th season in the NFL. (USATSI)

When the Patriots selected Jimmy Garoppolo in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft it took people by surprise (and was panned by some critics). After all, Tom Brady has lots of football left ... right?

Our own Ryan Wilson believes so and broke down why this week. More importantly (sorry, Ryan), Pats owner Robert Kraft agrees and said as much on NFL Network during Patriots offseason training activities on Thursday evening.

"From my point of view, and I think from our organization, we believe that Tom has a lot of play left," Kraft said. "The way he takes care of his body, the way he eats, the way he plays, the way he trains. People look up to him."

The whole Garoppolo thing is a bit overblown: Brady even said he wasn't surprised New England selected a quarterback early. As Kraft pointed out, the very reason Brady got his opportunity is because the high-profile quarterback in front of him suffered an injury -- Drew Bledsoe got knocked out and Wally Pipped during the 2001 season.

"That's a position if you don't have someone strong at that position -- look what happened, how Tommy took over in that game after 911 when we delayed a week," Kraft said to former Pats player Willie McGinest on NFLN. "Mo Lewis, our friend from the Jets took Drew out. If we didn't have someone like Tommy in our system it would've been very devastating. In any business you always need disaster insurance. The most important thing. And now we have a young man who I hope is as good as everyone feels.

"I also hope he doesn't get a chance to start for a long, long time."

Kraft feels the same way about Ryan Mallett who, with the addition of Garoppolo, looks like a possible trade candidate, even though Bill Belichick continues to deny such an outcome.

Back to Brady though: Kraft pointed out his success isn't "by accident" and it's "how he prepares" that separates Brady.

"I don't think people understand the amount of tape he watches and how he prepares. And whatever he feels is the big weakness in his game, he addresses and comes on very strong," Kraft said. "You don't separate ... eight [championship games] in his career -- it doesn't happen by rote or by accident."

Kraft also praised the coaching staff and the supporting cast (including players like McGinest) and then, when asked if Brady would wear a Patriots jersey for his entire career said "I sure hope so."

"I sure hope so. We did something creative with ... he was a visionary and allowed us to restructure his contract in a way that was good for us," Kraft said. "I personally and our whole fanbase only want to see him have that flying Elvis, or that Pat Patriot if we're doing throwbacks."

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Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski still on schedule with his knee rehab



We last posted a note on Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski about six weeks ago. At that time, it was reported that Gronkowski was "right where he should be" in his rehab from a torn ACL and MCL, which he suffered in December.Six weeks later, today, the tune is the same. Gronkowski spoke to the media Wednesday and said he has been setback-free during the process. He isn't taking part in Patriots OTAs but still working out on his own to stay in shape.



I still think Gronk won't make it back for Week 1, and I will approach him in drafts this year similarly to how I did in 2013 -- I'm not going to take him. I shouldn't be so absolute, but he would have to fall mighty far for me to spend a pick on him. Gronk missing just one or two games at the start of the season seems like a best-case scenario. I don't think we'll see him play much in September, if at all. He showed last year that he can knock the rust off quickly as he caught eight passes for 114 yards when he debuted in Week 7. And when he was on the field, he played like the Gronk who deserves to be a second or third-round fantasy choice. But how long will he stay on the field? I'm not going to commit a significant amount of draft dollars or an early round pick in a player whom I don't have faith in to play more than half a season.The Patriots' tight end options behind Gronkowski are Michael Hoomanawanui and D.J. Williams. In other words, not much.