FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — You won’t hear the word “dork” used too often to describe Tom Brady.
Gisele Bundchen may have the upper hand on her hubby in the looks department, but it’s safe to say the Patriots’ celebrated passer never had to sit at the nerd table in high school.
But because of Jets coach Rex Ryan’s claim that Brady gets by on talent alone, his teammates were practically falling over themselves to paint the sure NFL MVP as a bookworm with Coke-bottle glasses when it comes to preparation and film work.
“Tom studies a lot,” wideout Deion Branch said yesterday as the Patriots prepared for Sunday’s AFC divisional playoff showdown with Ryan’s Jets.
“Tom is a dork when it comes to that, so I’m going to leave [Ryan’s comments] alone. But Tom is a dork in that meeting room.”
Joking aside, Branch and others in the Patriots’ locker room seemed almost incredulous that Ryan would needle the same player who led New England to a 45-3 pillaging of the Jets barely a month ago.
What prompted Ryan’s comment was news that Brady and Bundchen took in “Lombardi” on Broadway last Saturday instead of Brady doing a live study on the Jets’ 17-16 wild-card win over the Colts.
Ryan also jabbed Brady by saying Peyton Manning is more of a self-made quarterback because he doesn’t have a coaching legend such as Bill Belichick to lean on in Indianapolis.
That, predictably, didn’t go over too well with Brady’s mates as the Patriots reconvened after their playoff bye week.
“It’s like having a coach on the field,” running back Sammy Morris said indignantly. “He knows how hard he studies, and we know how hard he studies. Obviously, he’s very polished.”
Ryan’s comments indeed seem absurd, considering Brady is a two-time Super Bowl MVP who has never completed fewer than 61 percent of his passes or thrown more than 14 interceptions in a full NFL season.
The digs were even more of a head-scratcher in light of Brady’s superb 2010 season. He goes into Sunday’s showdown having thrown 36 TDS and just four interceptions while posting a ridiculous 111.0 passer rating.
In light of that, Brady’s teammates were sure Ryan had an ulterior motive for throwing darts at the player who rang up 326 yards and four scores without an interception against the Jets in early December.
“They’re just comments,” Branch said. “Coach [Ryan] says and does what he does, and we do what we do over here. Whatever he has to do to get his team motivated, I think that’s what he’s going to do.”
Tight end Alge Crumpler said Brady’s claim that he was sitting in a Broadway theater last Saturday doesn’t matter because the quarterback — like the rest of the Patriots — has been poring over Jets-Colts game film ever since.
In fact, Crumpler indicated Brady was among the Patriots who volunteered their time on a scheduled off day Monday to come to the team’s Gillette Stadium complex and study gigabytes of Jets video.
“I’m sure he’s watched every ounce of film going back to a lot of different games, as we all have,” Crumpler said. “I think the best part about this team and our preparation is, even when we didn’t have to be here, [they are].
“A lot of guys were in here on Monday, sitting down and breaking down the film and going over things that we have to do to get ready to prepare for this ball game because, ultimately, this is it. It’s a one-game season right now. ”
And certainly no time to mock Brady.
“What’s that saying? Something about not tugging on Superman’s cape?” Morris said, smiling. “That comes to mind.”