BOSTON (CBS) -- Bill Belichick pulled off one of the most shocking moves in his tenure as Patriots head coach on Monday when he traded All-Pro linebacker Jamie Collins.

While there has to be more to the story that has yet to come out, the move nonetheless blindsided the Patriots locker room, as evidenced by comments from his former teammates that came out late on Monday - including quarterback Tom Brady, who spoke about the trade in his weekly interview with Jim Gray of Westwood One Radio.

"It's always tough to hear news like that with a teammate that I've played with and been in so many battles with. Jamie is a great player for our team and I'm sure he'll be a great player for the Cleveland Browns," said Brady.

He added that Collins' move to Cleveland will mean big changes for the entire team.

"I loved playing with Jamie, I loved seeing him out on the field. He's moving on to a different place, a different environment for him. The makeup of our team will be different and hopefully, the guys that fill in for him now will do a great job for us," said Brady.

As for Collins' defensive teammates, safety Devin McCourty spoke about the trade on CSNNE's Quick Slants with Tom E. Curran and former Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo, who also dealt with a few surprising trades in his time in New England under Belichick. Mayo called the time following the loss of a player of Collins' caliber a "mourning" period.

McCourty acknowledged that the defense hasn't been at its best, even with Collins, and will need to turn things around in the second half of the 2016 season, especially now that they have to adjust to life without No. 91.

"Jamie's a huge piece of our defense - arguably our best defensive player, so it's going to be a lot of changes that come from this move," said McCourty. "I think, as players, that has to be our focus ... 'How do we fix things and get things moving in a positive direction?'"

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Based on McCourty's comments, the Collins trade was one that the team did not see coming. The bye week may have come just in time to get through the instant reactions and ramifications to such a major move from a coach who's known for taking big risks.

"Obviously in New England, there's always a lot of changes," said McCourty. "There's always guys coming in and out, but when you've got a guy like Jamie who was here for four years on the team, very productive player ... to lose him is a bit shocking, I think, to everybody on the team ... There's definitely a little transition to getting used to that type of change."

More reports are sure to come out about the Collins trade and what led up to it. But what's clear is that the players in the locker room saw the trade as a hugely unexpected move - even for Belichick.