FOXBORO, Mass. — Tom Brady was expected to make his preseason debut Thursday night at Gillette Stadium. Until he wasn’t.
Multiple outlets reported Brady would start under center for the New England Patriots against the Chicago Bears. Patriots coach Bill Belichick said in a pregame interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub that all three quarterbacks — Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett — would play.
But Brady did not take the field with his teammates for warmups, and NESN’s Gary Striewski reported seeing the quarterback leaving the stadium less than a half-hour before kickoff. This came shortly after Patriots president Jonathan Kraft said on 98.5 he did not believe Brady would play.
This is a strange situation indeed.
With the Patriots on the road for the final two weeks of the preseason and Brady suspended for the first four games of the regular season, his next home game will not be until at least Oct. 16, when New England hosts the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 6.
Garoppolo started in Brady’s place for the second consecutive week. Brissett is expected to see plenty of playing time against Chicago, as well.
UPDATE (8:20 p.m. ET): We now know why Brady did not suit up Thursday night.
Brady was held out of the game because he “sliced his right thumb with a pair of scissors” shortly before he was set to take the field for warmups, according to CSNNE.com’s Tom E. Curran.
“Apparently, Brady was trying to pry something from the bottom of his cleat prior to taking the field and sustained the cut,” Curran wrote.
Thumbnail photo via Stew Milne/USA TODAY Sports Images
