Tom Brady Sr. shot from the hip Tuesday, and he may have been a little off-target.

On The Patriots Talk podcast, Brady’s father spoke about his son being and feeling vindicated for leaving New England, after he declared it was “pretty obvious that the Patriots regime felt it was time for him to move on.”

Is that truly how the GOAT feels?

During a 20-minute conversation with Alex Guerrero, Brady’s personal trainer, business partner and one of his closest friends, the Herald attempted to get some answers about how the Buccaneers quarterback feels about his former coach and team, a little more than a week before he’ll return to Foxborough.

For starters, Guerrero chalked up Tom Sr.’s remarks to those of a protective, loving father. He wasn’t necessarily speaking for his son.

“Look, I’m a father. I’ve got children. And I love and admire my kids. I think those were the emotions that were spoken by a loving father,” Guerrero said Wednesday afternoon. “I don’t know if they were really Tom’s emotions. When you’re in your mid-40s, how often are you calling your dad to talk about your work?”

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Guerrero did, however, confirm Brady no longer felt wanted in New England, and the front office wasn’t giving him enough reason to stay. Guerrero contended Brady’s relationship with Coach Bill Belichick got tougher to maintain toward the end, because Belichick didn’t evolve as Brady matured into an NFL legend.

“The interesting thing I think there — and this is just me, an outsider looking in — it was like Bill never really … I think his emotions or feelings never evolved with age,” Guerrero said. “I think in time, with Tom, as Tom got into his late 30s or early 40s, I think Bill was still trying to treat him like that 20-year-old kid that he drafted. And all the players, I think, realized Tom was different.

“He’s older, so he should be treated differently. And all the players, none of them would have cared that he was treated differently. I think that was such a Bill thing. He never evolved. So you can’t treat someone who’s in his 40s like they’re 20. It doesn’t work.”

Guerrero then suggested Belichick seemed to have changed for Cam Newton, Brady’s immediate successor.

“It’s interesting, if you look at how Bill looks at some of these other players, it looks to me like he’s been able to modify or change a little bit,” said Guerrero. “Maybe he’s forced to. If you’re going to be a coach, a coach should be the one to modify or make changes.”

Still, Guerrero wouldn’t use the word “vindication.” He also wouldn’t say whether both sides got what they wanted from the divorce.

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“People could have made different choices, and they could have rode out into the sunset together. That could have been a pretty cool story, too,” said Guerrero. “At the end of the day, when we prepare to play, we have a lot of drive and determination and will. I don’t know that we prepare or have the drive and determination or will to win through vindication. … We have the drive and the will and the determination to win because we love winning.”

Brady and Guerrero also love their situation in Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers have placed no restrictions on how and where Brady can be treated by his trainer.

Guerrero used the word “fun” several times when describing their new workplace.

“This place, we have so much fun here. We have a great time,” said Guerrero. “They’re great here. Ownership is great. The coaching is great, the management is great.”

The Bucs also don’t seem to mind that many of their players are now being treated at TB12. That became a bone of contention in Foxborough because the Patriots’ training staff felt it was being undermined, especially if their treatment plans conflicted with Guerrero’s.

The Bucs apparently don’t have that view, and seem to have given Guerrero carte blanche.

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“There’s a large group of (players) that come, I don’t know what the number is. But there’s a large group,” Guerrero said. “We have great support over here. The ownership is super supportive, the coaching staff is super supportive. The players are supportive. So it’s been great.”

In Foxborough, Guerrero’s privileges were famously taken away, leaving him to treat Brady in one of the luxury suites at Gillette before practices and games. He also flew separately to road games and was banned from the sideline.

In Tampa Bay, Guerrero has opened a new TB12 facility a short distance from the stadium, but treats Brady onsite. Ditto Rob Gronkowski.

Asked if having his personal trainer welcomed by the Bucs has made a difference to Brady, Guerrero generalized, but suggested it did.

“I do think that when we talk about athletes and their ability to function at a high level, you always try to eliminate certain variables, right?” said Guerrero. “So I think the variable of the convenience of being able to treat where we do the treatment, and not having to go up to a suite, or go into some sort of maintenance room when we were away, I think it just eliminates a variable.

“We managed it, and we managed through it when we were there,” he went on. “But now that we don’t have to manage that variable, having that variable taken away, it is a lot easier.”

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Guerrero also shed light on Brady’s recent knee surgery to fix a torn MCL he played with all of last season. According to Guerrero, it was the same injury Brady suffered in Week 10 of the 2018 season at Tennessee, meaning he’s now won two Super Bowls and two conference title games on the road with a bad wheel.

“During that one Tennessee game, was it four years ago? Remember when he ran and got tackled? That’s where he did it,” said Guerrero. “We just played on it, and did our work on it, and we’d stabilize the knee.

“Finally, after last season, I’m like, ‘Tommy, as you age, this is something we just have to get fixed as soon as the season is over.’ … And he’s doing great. The rehab went well. We prepared him for the rigors of football, so now we’re into it. Two weeks in, so far, so good.”

Two weeks in, and Brady has thrown nine touchdown passes. At age 44, he’s still sitting atop the NFL. And in 10 days, he’ll be returning to Foxborough, where it all started.

Guerrero claimed he doesn’t know exactly what Brady is feeling, because they’re focused on Tampa Bay’s next opponent, the Rams. But his trainer does believe the Patriots’ legend will be brimming with excitement.

“He and I have spent a lot of time together, and we really haven’t spent that much time talking about Week 4,” said Guerrero. “We’ve really spent a lot of time just talking about the week that we’re in, and trying to stay focused on that.

“But … I know how I would feel coming back, and I would think he would feel the same. There’s a lot of years spent there. There’s a great excitement to see there, be there, feel the energy, see the fans, feel the fans. I think it’s going to be very exciting.”

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