Most of New England has moved past Super Bowl LII, but the Malcolm Butler benching was broached on Monday during Tom Brady's hour-long interview with Jim Gray.

Speaking at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Santa Monic, Calif., Brady said he wished Butler had played in Super Bowl LII.

Curiously, Brady also said he wasn't aware that Butler had been benched until the game was over.

"I'll say this: For a team, this side of the room is the offense and this side is the defense," Brady said. "We don't interfere with them much. I didn't know. Malcolm kept coming over to me during the game and was like 'Come on, TB, let's go!' And I kept going, 'What defense are we in where Malcolm's not on the field?' Is it short-yardage, goal line? And then after the game, I found out. So I just didn't know. And I asked Malcolm and Malcolm said, 'I don't know. Coach has just decided something different.' I said, 'OK.' So I don't know what was a part of that decision-making, but I know we were trying to win the game. I don't think we were trying to do anything but win."

"It's unfortunate we lost," Brady said, "but give the Eagles a great deal of credit. They deserved it, and we'll be back next year trying to kick their butt."

Here's more of Gray's conversation with Brady:

Gray: "Let's go back to the Super Bowl. Do you know why Malcolm Butler didn't play?"

Brady: "Well, I don't make those decisions. I wish he would've played, but the coach didn't play him and we still had a chance to win."

Gray: "Do you know why he didn't play?"

Brady: "No, I haven't gone and discussed those things. Do you know why he didn't play? Would you like to tell me?"

Gray: "I don't have the access that you do."

Brady: "Yeah, well I don't ask, so..."

Gray: "Do you believe that the fans deserve an explanation? The guy played 98 percent of the plays during the regular season and all of a sudden he's standing there crying during the national anthem. Do you believe the people who pay for the game, who have watched the game, who have invested their time and money should have an explanation?"

Brady: "Well, I don't know. That's probably a better question for the guy who owns our team. I think, for me, you don't make all the decisions. I can control what I can control. So much of what it's been over the years has been, 'How do I maximize what I can do?' I can't run, I can't catch, I can't block, I can't tackle. I can do my job and I'm going to do it the best way I can. I've got to trust everyone else to do the same thing. Sometimes it works out, and for our team it's worked out better than every other team for a long time, so how do you nitpick one or two things? Everyone is trying, in my belief, to do the best thing. It doesn't always work out. I love that particular player -- Malcolm. I have a great relationship and history with him. And he's moved on with his life, he's on a different team."