Brady rips Mayfield's remarks: 'Stressful was not having' rings

Legendary quarterback Tom Brady addressed the recent comments made by passer Baker Mayfield, who claimed that Brady made Tampa Bay Buccaneers' locker room stressful.

Mayfield said this past week that there were "a lot of mind games going on" during Brady's three seasons with the Buccaneers.

"The building was a little bit different with Tom in there," Mayfield said, according to Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith. "Obviously, playing-wise, Tom is different. He had everybody dialed in, high-strung environment, so I think everybody was pretty stressed out. They wanted me to come in, be myself, bring the joy back to football for guys who weren't having as much fun."

Mayfield continued: "You hear some of the stories about if he didn't like a certain play call and he didn't like it throughout the week and they still call it in the game, there might have been a throwaway on purpose or throwing it at the running back or receiver's feet. There were a lot of mind games going on."

Brady - currently lead NFL color commentator for Fox - called the Bucs' Week 4 game against the Philadelphia Eagles and responded to Mayfield's remarks during the broadcast.

"I thought stressful was not having Super Bowl rings," the seven-time Super Bowl champion said. "There was the mindset of a champion, and I took it to work every day. This wasn't daycare. If I was going to have fun, I was going to Disneyland with my kids."

Brady added: "There's a way to approach this game. And it's that with the right mindset and trying to push each other outside of our comfort zone. Great teammates do that."

Brady won six Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots before signing with the Buccaneers in 2020 and leading Tampa Bay to a Big Game victory in his first season with the team.

Brady - the most decorated QB in NFL history - posted a 32-18 regular-season record across three seasons with Tampa Bay while averaging 4,881 yards and 36 touchdowns per year. He was 5-2 in the playoffs with the NFC South club.

The Bucs signed Mayfield in the 2023 offseason after Brady retired. The former No. 1 pick revived his career with Tampa Bay and led the team to a divisional-round appearance last season. In his career, Mayfield is 42-47 as a starter in the regular season with a 2-2 playoff record.