RENTON, Wash. -- Richard Sherman doesn't shy away from talking, whether on the field trying to rattle the receivers he's defending or just chatting in the Seattle Seahawks' locker room.
And Sherman didn't avoid talking on Tuesday, albeit with a slightly more subdued tone after two days during which his comments following the Seahawks' victory over New England drew national attention.
Sherman said he had no regrets about his strong comments and messages from his Twitter account after Seattle's 24-23 victory. While some of his postgame comments in the locker room became instant sound bites, it was a tweeted picture that drew the most attention.
Sherman sent a picture from his account that showed him talking in the face of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady that included an added message and a question, "U Mad Bro?" The second-year cornerback said he was directed to remove the tweet from his Twitter account, but didn't regret any of the attention that has come his way.
"I don't regret anything about the situation. It is what it is," he said.
Quickly known around the league for his chatting on the field, Sherman and Brady started talking during the second half of Sunday's game when the Patriots were leading 23-10. The message from Brady was for Sherman to seek him out after the game, which he did after Seattle scored 14 points in the final 7:31 to shock the defending AFC champs and drop them to 3-3. That led to captured images of Sherman talking to Brady after the game.
But Sherman was still fiery when reporters were let into the locker room and he popped off about what he felt was disrespect from national pundits toward the Seahawks.
"It's not a shock for us. We believe we have a great ballclub and we believe we can play with anybody," Sherman told reporters after the victory. "NFL Network and all of these pundits think they know everything and we keep shutting them up week, by week, by week, by week. They thought (New England) was the greatest ball club to step on the earth. They're 3-3, .500. I don't know what great ball club is 3-3."
Sherman tried to clarify Tuesday that his remarks weren't meant to be directed at Brady, but instead toward those not giving respect to Seattle's defense that was ranked as the best in the league entering last week.
"It was definitely more about us than about him," Sherman said. "I'm talking about our back end and the three Pro Bowl players we have back there, how great our (defensive) line is playing, how awesome our linebacker play is, how great our rookie quarterback did against Tom Brady."
Speaking to Dial Global Sports before Monday night's game, Brady avoided speaking directly about Sherman's comments.
"He's a very good player and I have a lot of respect for that defense and certainly that secondary," Brady said. "They play very well together. My dad taught me at a young age to play with class and respect and give my opponents respect, and certainly I have a lot of respect for the Seahawks."
Sherman was the only member of Seattle's secondary not selected for the Pro Bowl last year, yet he might be playing the best of anyone back there this year. According to STATS LLC, Sherman is tied with Chicago's Tim Jennings for the NFL lead in passes defensed with 10. His three interceptions through six games are nearly equal to his four picks from last year.
Even when he was just getting his first chances at starting a season ago, Sherman was noticed for having a confident swagger most rookies lack. With the success he's had individually and the success of the Seahawks defense, that swagger has only grown to where some may see it as cockiness.
Seattle defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said Tuesday that just last week he was asked if he thought Sherman was cocky.
"I said, 'No, he's not. He's confident, he's not cocky.' Cocky people don't want to learn, Richard wants to learn. And then all this came up," Bradley joked. "He's just so passionate and you've got to understand their mindset. He's out there 58 passes where Tom Brady is trying to attack him because of the coverage we play. And you can imagine having that mindset and how high strung you are and how ready to go you have to be on every play and it was just one of those things where his passion showed."