Bill Belichick is exploiting a roster loophole so that Tom Brady doesn't have to address the media this week

Charles Krupa/AP

Tom Brady makes his highly anticipated return from suspension on Sunday, when the Patriots take on the winless Browns in Cleveland.

Technically, Brady's suspension ended at 12:01 a.m. on Monday morning, meaning that this whole week Brady should be facing the media, who no doubt want to hear from him. ("Tom, how was Italy?")

And yet aside from an uninteresting interview he gave with Jim Gray of Westwood One earlier in the week, Brady has remained suspiciously quiet. On Wednesday, he skipped his mandatory media session and had Rob Gronkowski go before the media instead.

As Yahoo explained, Brady isn't expected to face the media until after his game on Sunday. What's more, this media blackout is perfectly legal thanks to a roster loophole that Bill Belichick has, unsurprisingly, exploited to his advantage.

From Yahoo:

"Brady currently isn't on the roster yet, as the league has granted them an exemption - the Patriots don't have to add him (or Rob Ninkovich, who also was suspended) officially until Saturday. There's no media access that day as the Patriots will be traveling to Cleveland."

Now, one could reasonably infer that Brady's media blackout is a shot at the NFL from Belichick and the Patriots. Considering the imbroglio that was Deflategate, that's certainly possible.

But probably Brady just doesn't want to speak until he has football to talk about, and since Belichick knows every loophole possible, he's figured out a way to keep him quiet.