Bill O'Brien shared a meeting room with him for three years.
Johnathan Joseph's squared off against him six times.
Brian Cushing's played against him once.
This will be the first go-round for Kevin Johnson.
That quartet has a varying degree of experience with the great Tom Brady, but they all share a respect for the four-time Super Bowl winning quarterback.
"Ultimate competitor, he's one of the best to ever do it," Joseph said. "He is always prepared and always ready. It's a full 60-minutes, or however long the game lasts, playing against a guy like that."
Brady leads the NFL in both passing yards and touchdowns with 3,912 and 31, respectively, and has guided the Patriots to a 10-2 record. He's been in the League since 2000 and has a deep reservoir of knowledge and experience from which he can pull. According to Cushing, the veteran quarterback is always ready with something new.
"He does some different things that no one is expecting, that's what makes him one of the best, if not the best ever," Cushing said.
Johnson's just 13 games into his NFL career, but he recognized the challenge in front of him and the rest of the Texans defense with Brady and company coming to NRG Stadium for Sunday Night Football.
"It is going to be a tough matchup," Johnson said. "Tom Brady is known as one of the best players to play the game, so we have to be on our game."
O'Brien was on the offensive staff with the Patriots from 2007 through 2011. He rose through the ranks there as a quality control assistant, to the wide receivers coach, then quarterbacks coach, and ultimately coordinator in his final season with the team. He spent countless hours with the future Hall of Famer. But he wasn't ready to say his time around Brady would give him and the Texans a bit of help in preparation for Sunday.
"You guys are probably going to laugh at this, but I don't see it as much of a benefit at all," O'Brien said. "I haven't been there in three years and they are a lot different than when I was there."
The players are off on Tuesday and will return to work on Wednesday for practice at the Houston Methodist Training Center.
Kickoff against the Patriots is Sunday night at 7:30 p.m.
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