If Tom Brady didn’t know it was fourth down on his incomplete pass to Cameron Brate Thursday night, neither he or head coach Bruce Arians are willing to say so.
Brady was asked after the game if he knew it was fourth down when he tried to rip a pass into a well-covered Brate down the field.
“I knew we needed a chunk and I was thinking about more yardage and then, you know, it was just, it was bad execution. We had a great opportunity there. So just didn’t execute when we needed do,” Brady told reporters after the game.
“We just… you’re up against the clock and I knew we had to gain a chunk so I should have been thinking more first down instead of chunk on that down.”
After the play, Brady didn’t immediately head toward the bench and was holding up four fingers in the air as if he anticipated another down was forthcoming.
There was not.
Brady fired incomplete for Mike Evans on first-and-10. Dumped a check down to Ke'Shawn Vaughn for four yards on second down, fired off the hands of Rob Gronkowski on third down before the throw to Brate was broken up by DeAndre Houston-Carson on fourth down.
Arians also said that Brady was aware of what down it was.
“Yeah, he knew. He knew,” Arians said.