Brady, Patriots prepare for Texans' defense

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Tom Brady has been in this league for a long time, and he knows that you can’t take anything for granted.

The New England Patriots are 16-point favorites against the Houston Texans for the AFC divisional round game on Saturday, but that doesn’t mean anything in Brady’s eyes.

Even though the last five matchups between the two teams have resulted in Patriots’ wins, Brady knows that game plans, teams and players are always changing.

“This is a day-to-day league,” Brady said in his weekly interview with WEEI’s “Kirk and Callahan,” “Coach talks all the time, ‘It’s not who you play, it’s how you play.’ We need to play well.”

The Texans have the No. 1-ranked defense based on the fewest yards allowed; they have Jadeveon Clowney; and they also have Patriots’ ties. Head coach Bill O’Brien, defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, special teams coordinator Larry Izzo and linebackers coach Mike Vrabel were all connected to the Patriots organization at a time in their careers. So, they are all familiar with The Patriot Way.

And Tom Brady is also very familiar with the Texans’ defense, as he mentioned that he studied them all day Sunday.

“They have a damn good defense,” Brady said, “There is nothing easy about this game for our offense. We’re going to go grind it out. We have to get our mind right, and we will.”

The Patriots are focused and ready to have another good week of practice before the Saturday night showdown.

“We put everything into it this week,” Brady said, “We empty the tank in our practices, which we always do, and then you come out the end of the week with confidence and ready to go out there and show everyone that we’re prepared and we can play.”

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