Part of what makes the New England Patriots great is their relentless drive to improve, even after wins.
That's also what makes them a little less fun to play for.
Retired tight end Rob Gronkowski said as much Sunday on the set of "NFL on FOX," admitting the one part he doesn't miss about New England is how the team -- especially quarterback Tom Brady -- doesn't properly celebrate its achievement.
"He's still frustrated, too. And it's like, 'Yo, you guys are 9-1,' " Gronkowski said. " ... They should be happy. Instead, they're sitting there Sunday night like, 'Oh, what did I do wrong?' No. You should be pumped about the win."
WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show" played Gronk's comments for Brady on Monday morning during his weekly radio interview and asked the QB what he thought of his ex-teammate's implication.
"I think everyone deals with things differently," Brady said, via WEEI.com. "I think that was part of having a guy like Gronk in the locker room that was so great. He approached it like he does, which is, he always looks at the bright spots in everything.
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"When you have great attitudes like that, it's good to have."
Gronkowski's fun-loving approach worked for him during his nine seasons in Foxboro, even if he hinted that he didn't fully enjoy himself near the end of his career.
But Brady pushed back on the notion that he's all doom and gloom during the season.
"I don't have just one emotion after every game, you know?" Brady said. "There's probably five or 10.
"The moment you catch me is probably how I feel at a particular time, and sometimes it takes time to digest things and deal with things. Hopefully we can process those by the time your preparation for the next week starts."
The media caught Brady in a particularly bad mood following a Week 11 win over the Philadelphia Eagles in which the Patriots only scored 17 points.
The 42-year-old QB seemed to be in slightly better spirits following New England's 16-9 win over the Dallas Cowboys, but he also won't apologize for wanting the offense to get better.
"Everybody puts a lot into it, and you want to see a great performance," Brady added. "And when it's less than that, I don't know what I should feel other than what's authentic to me."
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