Tom Brady is not the guy you or I remember from all those years. He has yet to regain the form that made him the game’s most skilled decision maker. When will he get the touch back? How will he get it back? With practice…

“When you don’t play as well as you’d like, there’s no secret to it, ” said Brady at his press conference Wednesday in Foxboro. “You just gotta get out there and do it better, be more focused, more concentrated and go out there on the practice field with a greater sense of urgency. That’s the way to overcome it.”

I’ve heard Brady espouse a similar philosophy with regards to almost every problem he and the Patriots have encountered over the years. It’s usually worked. But it seems to me this time, the Pats quarterback is taking even more on his shoulders.

“Everyone counts on me to perform at a certain level. I count on them to do their job. When you’re not doing it, it’s very frustrating when you really feel in a way that you’re letting your teammates down. You also have the resiliency to go back out there and give it your best.” 

His best just hasn’t been consistently good enough to this point (strange to be typing those words). Of course, a couple more accurate throws over the course of this stretch, and maybe our perception of Brady’s performance has changed. But that’s the difference at this juncture. His trademark accuracy has been absent at times, especially on the deep ball.

“Ultimately we got to hit ‘em. That’s why you go out there and play quarterback. You got to go out there and complete the balls that are there, and when you have opportunities down the field – you don’t get them often -  you have to take advantage of them.”

The Pats have yet to hit on a pass over 40 yards. That’s a touchy subject for everyone involved, especially Bill Belichick, who hammered that point home to his team this morning. Eventually, you’d expect that to change. Until it does, the Pats will be an offense that’s yet to live up to its potential, and Brady won’t rest until he has that unit – and himself – up to par.