Tom Brady was pretty open about his feelings for Brian Hoyer last week when he was asked a question about Jarrett Stidham on WEEI's Greg Hill Show.
Brady provided a couple of sentences on the fourth-round pick out of Auburn, including, "He's going to keep working just like everyone else." Then, unprompted, he focused on Hoyer and called him a "real professional in every way." He added that Hoyer had had a "great offseason" to that point and that, "I love being in the room with Brian."
Since then, Hoyer has been released, meaning Brady and Stidham are the only two left in the Patriots quarterback room.
On Monday, Hoyer signed with the Indianapolis Colts to back up Jacoby Brissett. The next morning, Brady was asked for his reaction to his friend's departure on The Greg Hill Show.
"He added so much to our meeting room," Brady said Tuesday. " ... He always provided great insight, great leadership. It's always difficult to see your friends get released and that was no different... I'll never get used to it.
"My job is a difficult job regardless of who's there, but Brian provided a lot. ... Won an offseason award. Brought a great positive energy to the team. There's times for me where I get frustrated...and he'd bring me back to center pretty quickly."
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Brady, of course, has seen the Patriots cut ties with friends of his like Lawyer Milloy and Logan Mankins just before the starts of different seasons. It may never get easy, but by now he understands it's the nature of the business.
Asked if he's ever consulted on roster decisions, Brady answered quickly.
"No," he said. "Those are [Bill Belichick's] choices. As someone who chooses the team thats what his responsibility is. I think everyone trusts him. Mr. [Robert] Kraft trusts him. The team trusts him to make the best decisions possible. ... It's a challenging job. ... Different guys are vying for different spots. ... [Cut-down day] is probably one of the toughest days of the year, if not the toughest outside of losing games."
Tough as it is, Brady knows as well as anyone that the wheel on the NFL season keeps spinning no matter who's flung off once it gets going. He and his teammates will have Tuesday off and then get back to work Wednesday ahead of Sunday night's home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
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