Mike Reiss, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Tom Brady clears air with Patriots

NFL, New England Patriots

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady addressed teammates Thursday about the swirling issue of footballs being underinflated, with cornerback Darrelle Revis saying it was important for teammates to hear his remarks.

"He stood up and spoke and just said, 'This is a distraction and we just need to keep focus as a team. We have a big game to play' and that's something he wouldn't do. He wouldn't break any rules," Revis said Friday.

"It was basically just to clear the smoke."

Revis said that it all happened in the course of regular routine.

"He stood up, shared a couple words with us, and guys moved on," he said.

Given the momentum the story has developed since the NFL acknowledged Monday it was looking into the Patriots' underinflated footballs, Revis felt it was important to Brady to clear the air with teammates. In turn, Revis believed it was important to his teammates to hear the words as well.

"I think at that point you would want your leader to step up and say a couple words for us to move forward," he said. "It can be a distraction and it could bother us during the whole Super Bowl experience. So, definitely, it shows a lot of character in him to come up there, stand up and speak to the whole team."

Revis doesn't see the team getting knocked off course because of it.

"I think as a team we're fine. We've handled a lot of things this year, adversity-wise, and we just have to continue to keep pushing," he said.

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