New England Patriots QB Tom Brady has actively been working on his mobility over the past three seasons and he joined WEEI’s Kirk & Callahan to share the progress and results.
“Do you feel quicker and more agile in the pocket?,” the hosts asked. “Because it certainly appears that way.”
“I’m never going to run a 4.7 40,” Brady responded on Monday morning. “I’ll never do it, I’ve never have been able to do that, I never will be able to do that. But I’ve timed my 40 from what it was when I coming out of college and what it is now and it’s maybe two or three tenths faster than what it was.”
Brady ran a 5.24 second 40 yard dash at the 2000 NFL Combine, which means that he is currently running roughly a 5.00 second 40 yard dash- which is a pretty great improvement.
Of course, Chargers QB Philip Rivers (5.08s) and Cowboys QB Tony Romo (5.01s) the only other notable quarterbacks in the NFL with a 40 yard dash slower than 5 seconds. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, Broncos QB Trevor Siemian, and Cardinals QB Carson Palmer do not have recorded 40 yard dash times.
Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston (4.97s) and Patriots QB Jimmy Garoppolo (4.97s) are in Brady’s line of sight.
“I was really slow back then,” Brady said about his time in college. “I think it was a 5.25, so just trying to work on the ability to...so much for me is just that initial step and if you can have a little quickness in the pocket to evade an oncoming defensive lineman, you can extend the plays.
“If it’s a lethargic first step, then they always kind of get you. So I always try to work on that first step, because I don’t think my instincts in the pocket to move and scramble, I would say to scramble are really inbred in me just based on my style of play, it never has been, I’ve always tried to stay in the pocket and buy time in the pocket, to allow my receivers to get open.
“And now I think it’s just extended where that pocket is. Now the pocket can be maybe 20 yards wide instead of 6 yards wide. What I think has been a little more innate is avoiding a little rush, sliding in the pocket, buying a little more time, but now I think just being able to evade a rush a little bit to buy time has been good.
“Like I said a while ago, you see the way that so many of these great quarterbacks in the NFL can do that; I’ll never be able to do it like a Russell Wilson or Tyrod Taylor, those are their physical gifts, but it’s also if I can add 1 or 2 plays a game, and yesterday maybe it was 3 or 4 or 5 a game, it really does help our offense.”
Brady will do anything to help the offense, so don’t be surprised if he’s out there running like Wilson or Taylor in the year 2020. Just the fact that he’s continued to improve over his combine results shows that Brady’s passion for the game is still burning.