There is a whole pile of awkwardness to sort through in the lengthy ESPN article from Seth Wickersham on alleged/reported tension within the Patriots simmering over the past several months. Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft and Tom Brady have denied it in a joint statement, but the story isn't going away. Perhaps the most awkward bit of it all? That Jimmy Garoppolo was reportedly locked out of a TB12 facility.

It's classic NFL, really. The young quarterback drafted to replace the future Hall of Famer gets the cold shoulder when he starts to develop into a quality quarterback. We saw it with Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre before this, why should it be any different with Garoppolo and Brady?

Of course, Garoppolo was eventually traded to the 49ers, although for only a second-round pick and only, eventually, at the trade deadline. This despite the quarterback drawing interest from other teams all offseason. Belichick essentially decided to make sure that he found a good home for his young draft pick.

Things never got publicly tense between the two quarterbacks, and Brady has stated that, with Garoppolo starting 5-0 in San Francisco, he's "really happy" for him. But this, from Wickersham's story, about Garoppolo's recovery after a 2016 injury against the Dolphins that left him with a shoulder injury, paints a very different picture:

But after Garoppolo was knocked out of his second start because of a shoulder injury, he set up a visit at TB12. As he later told Patriots staffers, when he arrived, the door was locked. He knocked; nobody was there. He called TB12 trainers but nobody answered. He couldn't believe it, Garoppolo told the staffers, and that night ended up visiting team trainers instead. Guerrero vehemently denies ever refusing to see any player, and Garoppolo was eventually treated at TB12 -- but it was two weeks after he showed up for his original appointment, and only after a high-ranking Patriots staffer called TB12 to inquire why Garoppolo hadn't been admitted.

That doesn't even seem real. Brady got suspended four games for Deflategate, Garoppolo filled in for him, looked great, got hurt, decided to show up at Brady's treatment center to work with Brady's trainer and ... the door is locked! All it needs added is something about a one-armed man stepping out from the shadows in a trenchcoat and a fedora and telling Garoppolo he would probably be better off not signing that precious little contract the Patriots want to give him.

Said contract, which was reported to be around $18 million, probably was not getting signed anyway. Garoppolo wants to play and is getting his chance now, and will make way more money playing than he would as a backup. Belichick's "Patriot Way" mantra only extends so far.

Does anyone really believe Brady would shut out Jimmy G like that? Sure he's younger, better looking and has a quicker release of the football, but why else would Brady want to be mean to him?? I kid about most of that, although the younger thing is factually true and the handsome thing, well, you can be the judge of that.

Anyway, I digress. Maybe this didn't really happen. Maybe it was a mixup. Maybe it was Guerrero who doesn't like Garoppolo because the younger guy could ruin his brand. Or he's jealous of it. Whatever the case, it's all very bizarre and certainly fits with the pattern of awkwardness and tension all around.

Fortunately the Patriots don't have to spend too much time together in 2018: three games at the most. And now that they've been angered, they've probably been galvanized to the point where they will win another Super Bowl and this will all be moot.