FOXBORO -- The debate may rage on elsewhere, but for those who work inside Gillette Stadium, there is no discussion: Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback the NFL has ever seen.
The Patriots signal-caller threw his 400th and 401st touchdown passes in a 51-17 win over the Jaguars, joining a club that includes just three other quarterbacks: Peyton Manning, Brett Favre and Dan Marino.
"Me personally, he's the best quarterback to ever play this game," said running back LeGarrette Blount, whose locker is situated just a few feet from Brady's. "I think he's the best quarterback to ever play this game. It's an honor to be out there and be able to play with him. There's not a lot of guys that can say that. It's crazy to play with the best quarterback to ever play in this game and he's not done."
Brady put together yet another nearly flawless performance as his team went 3-0, completing 33 of 42 passes for 358 yards and two touchdowns. The Patriots scored every time they touched the ball thanks in large part to what Brady was able to do at the line of scrimmage, getting his teammates into the proper spots and making the proper adjustments when the situation called for them.
"He's in the film room, and he's always getting the troops ready out there," running back Dion Lewis said. "That's great. Changes and stuff, you gotta know all your assignments because you never know what he's going to change up to. Just gotta put the hard work in during the week and know your stuff."
The work that Lewis has seen behind the scenes from Brady since he joined the team this offseason has been impressive. He'd heard of Brady's work habits, of course, but after coming to New England he saw it first hand. He now understands what it's taken for Brady to start the season completing 72 percent of his passes for 1,112 yards, nine touchdowns and zero interceptions through three games.
"He's a leader, man," Lewis said. "He works hard every day. He gets us fired up to go and comes out every day trying to be great. That's something that a lot of people don't have. Especially when you've been doing it for so long. He comes in here every day like he's trying to establish himself. It's great to see, and it rubs off."
New England Patriots
Patriots rookie safety Jordan Richards echoed similar comments after the game, marveling at how Brady is able to transfer practice reps to game situations.
"When you play against him in practice, it's tough," Richards said. "I'm trying to get my hands on the football. Trying to get an INT from him. It's tough. That's why he is who he is. I'm honestly not watching him on the sidelines as a spectator [during games], but he puts in the work, and that's evident in my six months that I've been here."
Before the game, Patriots president Jonathan Kraft was interviewed by 98.5 The Sports Hub, and reiterated his position that Brady is the best to ever play.
"Tom, as I've said here before, is the greatest quarterback of all time . . . [His] unique ability is he steps to the line of scrimmage, and regardless of the environment he's in or anything else, he can decipher it better than any quarterback that's ever played the game," Kraft said.
Kraft harped on Brady's motivation and his intellectual abilities on the field, and then when asked about comparing Brady to Joe Montana -- another quarterback who has won four Super Bowls -- Kraft continued to defend his guy.
"Joe Montana who is an amazing competitor, and is probably materially more physically gifted than Tom, he had much more consistency [with his offensive teammates]."
Kraft also argued that Montana played in a league of 28 teams, not 32, and that Brady is playing in the era of free-agency whereas turnover was more rare in Montana's era.
Blount argued in support of Brady's credentials as well.
"He's won four Super Bowls and he's been to six," Blount said. "The fashion that he wins them in -- he's MVP. The kind of season he's having right now, it's kind of piliing on top of that, that legacy. He's only been with one team. This team is consistently one of the best teams to play every season and he's one of the main reasons why.
"He's fearless. He's a competitor. One of the best I've ever played with, easily. He goes out there, he does his thing, he fires everybody up, he makes sure everybody's ready to play. He gives them a lot of confidence. He tells everybody just make sure you don't take your foot off the gas, let's just keep going, you know? We come in at halftime, we come back out, it's 0-0 no matter what the score is. That's just that mentality that he has. It's contagious."
It's a mentality that has helped Brady reach the highest of heights in his career, and it's helped the Patriots look like one of the most dominant teams in the NFL to start the season.