Bengals players take jabs at Tom Brady over 'fairly tough' comment originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady called the Bengals' defense "fairly tough" earlier this week.
Cincinnati apparently felt slighted by that description.
After Sunday's 34-23 comeback road win over Tampa Bay, Bengals cornerback Eli Apple and defensive tackle B.J. Hill each took jabs at Brady on their way to the locker room at Raymond James Stadium.
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"The future's now old man," Apple said.
"We're fairly tough on defense," Hill added. "Remember that, alright?"
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Both players then brought up Brady's comment during postgame interviews.
"[Brady] was fairly OK, but not good enough to win," Apple said.
"Our fairly tough defense came in and played our butts off in the second half," Hill said.
The Bengals-Bucs game was truly a tale of two halves.
Tampa Bay raced out to a 17-0 lead and carried a 17-3 advantage into halftime. But things fell apart for Brady and Co. in the second half.
The Bucs turned the ball over on their first five second-half possessions (two fumbles, two interceptions and one turnover on downs) as the Bengals turned a 14-point deficit into a 10-point lead. Brady accounted for four of those turnovers, fumbling twice and throwing a pair of ugly picks.
Cincinnati wound up scoring 34 unanswered points en route to a sixth straight victory.
Following a fairly tough win over Tampa Bay, the 10-4 Bengals next face the 7-7 New England Patriots in Foxborough on Christmas Eve.
