Lee Schechter, Special to ESPNBoston.com 9y

Quick hits from Tom Brady

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Leftovers from Tom Brady's news conference on Wednesday:

Faith in Vereen. After the Patriots lost running back Stevan Ridley to a season-ending injury, the team needed someone to fill his role. While Shane Vereen doesn’t bring the same power-running style as Ridley, Brady trusts Vereen and is confident in what he can do. “Yeah, he’s done such a great job for us over the time that he’s been here,” Brady said. “I think dependability really sums it up, and he’s really an explosive player for us, too. It’s just trying to continue to find ways to get him the ball because he does a lot of great things when it’s in his hands.”

Taking the extra rest. The Patriots played four games in 18 days before getting some extra rest this weekend. Brady made the most of a weekend off. “Yeah, hopefully everybody really took advantage of it,” Brady said. “You’re right, we played a lot of games in a short period of time, so it was good to kind of catch up on some things and also try to get ahead. We’ve had a lot of work on the Bears, a lot of preparation. Hopefully we can kind of stay out in front of it.”

Higher trajectory on passes? Brady was asked if the perception of him throwing passes with a higher trajectory is true. “I think we worked a lot on that, and there are mental and physical issues to that, too,” Brady said. “Typically, when the ball is in the air longer, there’s more of an opportunity for the defensive players to get to it. There are mental blocks that I’ve had about wanting the ball in the air for a long period of time. But yeah, that’s definitely something we’ve worked on the last few years, and it seems to really be paying off also. The longer the ball is in the air your guy has a better opportunity to maybe track it and find it and make plays down the field. Sometimes you’ve got to squeeze it in; sometimes you’ve got to put a lot of air on it. I think, like I said, there’s a balance to that, too.”

Brady on field surfaces. In recalling the last game between the Patriots and Bears at Gillette Stadium, which took place in 2004, Brady talked about it being the first game on turf at Gillette. “I remember before that game, we played the Jets in a rain storm, and the field really started off pretty crappy that year,” Brady said. “I think there were a lot of concerts or something. The start of the year when we played Buffalo, it was like a sand pit. The players were pretty excited to get better footing. I’m sure all the players now are probably more excited to have grass again. That’s kind of the way it goes. A lot of teams have gone to field turf over the years. Maybe it provides better footing, but I think everyone really prefers natural grass.”

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