By Tom E. Curran
CSNNE.com Patriots InsiderFollow @tomecurran
FOXBORO - Bill O'Brien doesn't know anything about the house under construction in Cali, how things went in Rio or why Tom Brady shaves his armpits. The relationship between O'Brien, the Patriots' offensive coordinator, and the future Hall of Fame quarterback is about the business of football. Asked Saturday afternoon how the two men get on, O'Brien said, "I'm going into my fifth year here. It's a good relationship. It's a professional relationship. It's a relationship (where) there's a lot of communication. It's all football. We talk all the time. I think there's a lot of trust and -- again -- you're talking about a guy that works really hard, it's important to him. (He's) a prideful guy so there's just a bunch of trust there and good communication and I think it's been a good relationship."It has. After a somewhat rocky 2009 when O'Brien was in his first year as OC after Josh McDaniels left and Brady was coming back from a blown left knee, 2010 was brilliant for both guys. The Patriots led the NFL in scoring and Brady was the league's first unanimous MVP. O'Brien pulled the levers on an offense that incorporated three new tight ends (two of them rookies), two undrafted running backs and a returning wideout (Deion Branch) that took over for another future Hall of Famer (Randy Moss). O'Brien didn't hold the OC title though. He was just the "de facto." Now he gets to put it on his business card if he wants. But he doesn't want. "We have a really strong staff as a whole that works very well together," said O'Brien in explaining that the title really means nothing. "We're all in it together, we each have different roles. I'm the guy that collects the paper and puts it in the right stack. It's a collaborative effort."With this compressed camp and another new wide receiver -- Chad Ochocinco -- to roll into the offense, O'Brien's got a plateful. Fortunately for the Patriots, their new OC (same as the old OC) has shown he can get it all covered.
Tom E. Curran can be reached at tcurran@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Tom on Twitter at http:twitter.comtomecurran.