Lee Schechter, Special to ESPNBoston.com 10y

Brady leftovers: On Gronkowski, Wright

A few leftovers from New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's talk on WEEI's Dennis & Callahan on Tuesday morning:

On Gronkowski saying he will play. At first, Brady did not know that tight end Rob Gronkowski told reporters on Monday that he is good to go and will be playing in Sunday's regular-season opener against Miami. Once Brady heard Gronkowski's comments, he expressed he is looking forward to having a healthy teammate.

"Well, I hope so. The more guys we get out there the better," Brady said. "We just started the week of practice, so I think everyone is trying to get out there, learn each other and the final roster has finally been picked. Whoever is on the active roster has to be ready to go. We are going to need contributions from everybody.

"If Gronk can be one of those guys then I think that makes our team better. But, we have a lot of playing and contingency plans for everybody being out. That's just what we have to do. ...

"Being [Gronkowski's] teammate for the last four years we know what he can bring to the team -- what his ability is out there, what he is capable of by not only his own ability but how it helps the other guys out there too. We have a good group of guys, so that if they are going to cover Gronk then we have to throw to the other guys and when he is out there he is obviously a great target."

Ready to get the season started. With the preseason in the books, Brady is fired up for the regular season to start.

"Absolutely. These count. This goes in the final standings," Brady said. "This is when you are expected to be at your very best and every bit of preparation that we have done for the last six months -- the end of last season -- comes down to this particular day. Yeah, there is a lot of urgency to this week. You can't afford any mistakes. The guys that are out there, those guys have done the best job over the course of the offseason to put themselves in the best position to help our team. I'm excited. I think it's a different feeling yesterday than all year because we have been off for so long and finally we get an opportunity to go out there and do something that really counts."

Impressed by No. 81. Brady likes new tight end Tim Wright's ability to absorb a lot of information in a short period of time.

"I watched him a lot last year because we had a lot of games where we saw Tampa play in and said who is this young No. 81 who looks like a good player?" Brady said. "So, I am excited to have him on our team. He's a good player. ... Hopefully he can go out there and keep making [plays] because we are going to that position to be a big contributor on the team this year."

Let the defense prove itself. The Patriots' potential for improvement on defense has people abuzz. But, Brady adds perspective that every team feels excited heading into the season:

"Everyone thinks this time of year the whole team is improved -- we have made all these changes and this player is gone, thankfully, and now we have this guy coming to save the day. Everyone thinks every year their team is better. There's 32 teams that are very hopeful when in reality that's probably not the case -- just hope and opinion. That's why we go out there and play and put everything out there on field. You go out there and give everything you have got every single week to see where you are at. My opinion doesn't matter because [the defense] is going to get a chance to go out there and prove it anyway."

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