FOXBOROUGH — Tom Brady sounded sick during his Thursday press conference. Matt Judon sounded sick and tired of talking about Brady.
Judon was the latest Patriot to field a barrage of questions about Brady’s homecoming, and after deftly handling five Brady-centric queries, he was asked what words came to mind when it came to describing Brady, whose voice was raspy and hoarse during his media chat.
“Bro,” Judon said with a hint of exasperation, “he’s the next quarterback we’ve got to play. They also got two other quarterbacks on the roster. I know he was in this building for a long time, and what he’s done can never be taken away from the game of football and what he did.”
The outside linebacker, who leads the Patriots with 3½ sacks and a half-dozen quarterback hits, was just getting started, as he launched into a laundry list of the challenges New England will face with the Super Bowl champions coming to town.
“But it’s not like we’re afraid of what Tom Brady can do. We have to stop their whole offense. We have to stop RoJo [Ronald Jones], we’ve got to stop Leonard Fournette, we’ve got to stop Mike Evans, we’ve got to stop Gronk [Rob Gronkowski], O.J. [Howard], [Cameron] Brate, whoever they have at tight end.
“We have to defeat all the blockers up front, and then we also have to play complementary football on offense and special teams.
“So, Tom Brady is a great quarterback, and nobody can take away what he did. But we’re not here to talk about that right now. We have to play a game and we have to stop him from winning a football game.”
Judon, who acknowledged that he has traded some trash talk with Brady, landed four hits on him in 2019 when the Patriots played in Baltimore, also a Sunday night game. He said the key to getting to Brady is easy. Turning that key is not so easy.
“Beating blocks,” he said. “Honestly, he just has big blockers and it’s not like he’s got a bubble around him. Beat the blocker, then get to the quarterback. He just got a quick release and gets the ball out his hands fast.”
While Judon is one of the few current Patriots to have faced Brady in a game, several of his fellow linebackers have practiced against the seven-time Super Bowl champion for years. Judon indicated the group hasn’t talked specifically about Brady’s tendencies, but that a conversation could be forthcoming.
“Really, we’re more focused on our game plan,” he said. “We’re not really talking so much about what the quarterback is going to do and how he going to do it. It’s more about, like, our game plan, executing our calls first.
“And then we can focus on if it’s a three-step drop, this is how he looks. And this is how he plants, drives, stuff like that.
“So, they might have more insight because they’ve seen a lot more of him, but I think none of those guys ever played against him. So, we’re just going to stick to our cues, stick to our execution, and make sure we go out there and try to get a win.”
Kyle Dugger on report
With the exception of running back James White, who has yet to be officially placed on injured reserve, the Patriots had full attendance at practice, including receiver N’Keal Harry, who was designated to return from IR Wednesday.
There was an addition to the injury report, as safety Kyle Dugger was added with a hamstring issue. Dugger was listed as limited, as were linebackers Kyle Van Noy (groin), Ja’Whaun Bentley (shoulder), and Josh Uche (back); defensive end Henry Anderson (ankle); offensive tackles Isaiah Wynn (knee) and Trent Brown (calf); and kicker Nick Folk (left knee).
For the Buccaneers, Gronkowski (ribs), running back Giovani Bernard (knee), and outside linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul (shoulder) did not practice.
Checking them out
The Patriots worked out kickers Riley Patterson and Brett Maher, and long snappers Turner Bernard and Ryan Langan … The demand for tickets has been high, and some players took early precautions to avoid a request crunch. “I kind of laid out the foundation before the season,” said tight end Hunter Henry. “I said, ‘Hey look, I just have my immediate family coming this weekend.’ So, there was a good amount of requests coming before the season, I kind of shot those down.” Henry said the hints started during training camp. “I got a lot of phone calls like, ‘Hey we’re going to be in town Week 4,’ ” he said with a laugh. “I was like, ‘Yeah, I know you want to come but I’m going to have to restrict it a little bit — that’s a hot game.’ ‘’ … “The Today Show” and “NBC Nightly News” will broadcast from Gillette Stadium Friday, despite there being no in-person media availabilities scheduled.
Jim McBride can be reached at james.mcbride@globe.com. Follow him @globejimmcbride.