The New England Patriots are preparing for their playoff game against the Tennessee Titans in the midst of a controversy involving team owner Robert Kraft, coach Bill Belichick, and quarterback Tom Brady. How does the team work through that? Left tackle Nate Solder acknowledged that “it’s not always easy,” but it’s something that the team works on.
Nate Solder on how the Patriots block out distractions: “We work at it. It’s not always easy.” pic.twitter.com/C8lU5iQZhE
— Michaela Vernava (@MichaelaNESN) January 9, 2018
Kraft, Belichick, and Brady have all released comments on the matter.
The good news for the Patriots is that they have a lot of experience in dealing with distractions. This is a team that had an undefeated regular season in 2007 dealing with Spygate allegations. It won a Super Bowl in 2015 after two weeks of Deflategate attention, and another two years later despite Brady being suspended for four games.
Certainly, the allegations are not coming at a great time for New England. But if any team is equipped to handle them, this is the one.