There will be no back-and-forth trash talking ahead of the AFC Championship Game. The New England Patriots will ensure anything that comes out before Sunday's tilt will be one-sided.
A day after teammates refused to respond to Jalen Ramsey"predicting" a Super Bowl win for the Jags at a fan event, Tom Brady continued to reiterate The Patriot Way tone.
"It's how you play, not what you say," Brady said Tuesday morning on WEEI's Kirk and Callahan show.
Brady dismissing bulletin-board material is a useful in-the-moment tactic, considering the Pats are known to use all the motivation they can. Bill Belichick famously read his team the Philadelphia Eagles' planned parade route before Super Bowl XXXIX. If you provide the trash talk, the Pats will use it. They won't, however, respond publicly in kind.
Brady went on to heap praise on the Jaguars' swarming defense.
"There is not a lot of time for the quarterback to throw," he said, via ESPN's Mike Reiss. "I think the whole secondary knows it. The linebackers know it. They're aggressive. They take chances. They get a lot of turnovers ... [QB] is under pressure all day."
Brady's compliments heading into the championship tilt are warranted. The Jags owned the No. 1 ranked pass defense, No. 2 scoring defense, No. 2 in yards given up per game, second in sacks, and fourth in third-down percentage in 2017.
The Jags' most talented player, Ramsey, received high praise from Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater on Monday.
"The good Lord made that guy, and he said, 'Let there be corner.' And there he is," Slater said, per the Boston Herald.
The God-given talents of Ramsey versus the manic skills of Tom Brady will be one of the keys to the AFC Championship Game. Any trash talking is a bonus.
