FOXBOROUGH -- Tom Brady hadn't thrown a pass in the Patriots' season opener last Sunday, but was already off his game. His focus was uncharacteristically broken.
He had Deion Branch on his mind.
``Last week, I spent a lot of energy thinking about it and you look at the end of the week, it really wasted a lot of my time," Brady said yesterday. ``It was a big mental drain and I think it affected the way I played. I just didn't feel like I brought as much to the table as I normally could."
After the Patriots traded Branch to the Seattle Seahawks for a 2007 first-round pick Monday, Brady has some closure.
``At least I feel like now I can move on and I know he's moved on," said Brady, who was 11 of 23 for 163 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the opening 19-17 win over the Bills. ``I wish him luck. This team now has to really look forward, and with the guys we have do the best we can.
``I think everybody would have wanted Deion here, certainly myself knowing what kind of person and player he is. But as coach [Bill Belichick] kind of said to us, `It didn't work out.' I speak for myself when I say that I'm a very emotional person, and over the last four or five months it's been draining. In a sense, I think I learned a valuable lesson last week. When something is really out of your control, you can't let it drain you."
Part of what was tugging at Brady was the close relationship he had developed with Branch over the last four years. He said his recent conversations with Branch were emotional, as they would be between ``very good friends."
``He meant a lot to me as a person, and as a player he meant a lot to this organization," said Brady. ``Part of it is just this crazy [system] that we're associated with."
In 2003, when Lawyer Milloy was released the week before the Patriots' season opener, Brady spoke publicly about his disappointment. Branch's situation is a bit different because the trade wasn't as sudden, as Branch had been absent throughout training camp. Because of that, Brady said it felt more like losing a player to a season-ending injury.
Still, the loss stings.
``It's tough because coaches don't have relationships with players and management doesn't know what guys are like. In that sense, it's probably tougher for players to see other players go, because we hang out, we're buddies, it goes far beyond the football field," Brady said. ``I think part of this process that I learned is to kind of expect the unexpected. We hate to see players like Deion go, we hate to see Willie [McGinest] go, and Adam [Vinatieri], the list goes on for the last three or four years.