FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles never connected on the field after Super Bowl LII, but they made sure to do so after Thursday's preseason game between the teams at Gillette Stadium.

Brady relayed that he was never trying to avoid Foles after the heartbreaking Super Bowl defeat.

"That was kind of made up to me because that was never my intention that I would be a bad sport," he said after the Patriots' 37-20 win in the rematch. "But, I have a lot of respect for Nick and Carson [Wentz], all those quarterbacks, and that team and the way they played. They're a great team.

"I know how hard it is to win that last game, and they did it and congrats to them. But, we're on to 2018. We've got our goals ahead of us. We're going to try to go out and put together a great year."

Brady had visited the field before the game, which he seldom does before the full-team warm-up. He might have been looking for Foles at that point, but Foles was still in the Eagles' locker room. Brady spoke with Wentz briefly.

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As for the postgame meeting between Foles and Brady, the Super Bowl MVP said, "I think everyone's made a big deal about it. There's a lot of craziness. I've always respected Tom, I met Tom several times and it was great to see him.

"But like I said, I think everyone made a bigger deal, because at the end of the day, he's a great dude. He's a heck of a player, one of the greatest of all time, and you know, to say hi, that's what quarterbacks do after games. I know everyone made a big deal of the Super Bowl, but the Super Bowl's chaos after. But he was nice, as he always is, so I wished him the best of luck this season."