Two weeks ago, Bill Belichick was asked about absence from the ' voluntary offseason workouts. "Yeah, I'm not gonna talk about the people who aren't here," . "Guys who are here are improving, working hard and, uh, those are the guys we're going to focus on." Brady is taking part in mandatory minicamp, which began this week. Tom Brady is here Doug Kyed (@DougKyed) This prompted questions as to his whereabouts Derwin James Jr. Jersey during OTAs."It's a voluntary program," Belichick said. "You'll have to ask him about that."And the future Hall of Fame coach was also asked about his relationship with his future Hall of Fame quarterback. Bill Belichick on everyone reporting to mandatory minicamp: Its good to have all players here. As for Tom Brady: Ive always had a good relationship with Tom." Casey Baker (@CaseyBake16) "I've always had a good relationship with Tom," Belichick said with all the emotion we've come to expect from a typical Belichick pre s conference. And while no one will remember that Brady skipped OTAs once the season begins, that the Patriots' quarterback probably ain't "doing cartwheels about an offseason in which his left tackle, starting running back and top wide receivers Khalil Mack Jersey from 2017 are all gone." There's also the matter of his contract, which includes just $15 million on total compensation for 2018. That ranks 18th among all quarterbacks behind the likes of , , , and .So why did Brady, who had been a regular participant in voluntary Uchenna Nwosu Jersey workouts prior to this offseason, decide to stay away until this week? Perhaps it's as something as simple as Brady ."I have a wife Gisele Bundchen that aspires to be a lot of things, and she travels a lot. My oldest son lives here in New York, three kids, and you're just always trying to juggle and you want to be there for them, and you want to be there for the hockey games and the soccer games," Brady said in March. "But you also realize the level of commitment it takes to give as much Kyle Van Noy Jersey as you can to the team that needs you." "It's a big commitment," Brady said during a Facebook documentary that aired earlier this year. "I'm sitting here, laying here three days after the year getting my Achilles worked on, my thumb. And you go, 'What are we doing this for? Who are we doing this for? Why are we doing this?' You've got to have answers to those questions and they've got to be with a lot of conviction. When you lose your conviction, you should probably be doing something else."Brady wasn't the only big-name Patriots player to mi s voluntary workouts only to show up for mandatory minicamp; tight end ."I'll be there this week," he told reporters over the weekend. "I'll be full go. I'm looking forward to it. Can't wait to get back to work. I'm excited." Whether any of this -- the absences, the perceived i sues bubbling under the surface -- will Will Clapp Jersey have an effect on the Patriots in 2018 remains to be seen. Every offseason we hear about "this being the year the rest of the AFC catches up to the Pats," and every year New England ends up as one of the NFL's best teams.