Brady's right foot bothered him through the majority of the season, and the first noticeable signs surfaced two days prior to New England's Week 9 loss in Cleveland, which was the quarterback's worst game of the regular season. In the locker room after Friday's practice that week, Brady looked bothered and wobbled around while getting dressed. He just didn't seem like guy who led his team to a 6-1 start.
In Week 10, just three days after the loss to the Browns, Brady appeared on the injury report for the first time with that foot injury, an issue that remained on the injury report for the rest of the season. Also that week, Brady tried his damnedest to hide a noticeable limp from the media. Basically, Brady's right foot injury was out there for the world to see.
Yet, Brady's MVP campaign occurred simultaneously with his increased prominence on the weekly injury report. He missed four practices with the injury (plus another one when he had the flu), but he played brilliantly. The most unique example occurred in Week 12, when he missed the Patriots' lone practice of the week but recorded a perfect passer rating during a remarkable performance against the Lions.
Take a look at Brady's splits in the 2010 regular season:
- In his first eight games, he had a 6-2 record, completed 166 of 261 passes (63.6 percent) for 1,826 yards, 14 touchdowns and four interceptions to go with a 95.7 passer rating.
- In his last eight games, which included his foot's eight appearances on the injury report, Brady was 8-0 and completed 158 of 231 passes (68.4 percent) for 2,074 yards, 22 touchdowns and no interceptions to go with a 128.2 passer rating.
Of course, the improved numbers had something to do with the Patriots' transformed offense, but Brady still did it while battling through a foot injury that never really went away.
Also consider the Patriots' opponents: Four of their last eight wins came against teams that are playing in this weekend's championship games, while another came against the Colts and another helped the Patriots lock up the top seed in the AFC.
The playoff loss to the Jets was undoubtedly Brady's worst output of the year, but that's because the Jets beat his brains in (season-high five sacks) and crushed him mentally. Brady didn't look like the same guy upstairs, and that had nothing to do with his right kicker.
That brings us to Thursday, when Brady reportedly underwent surgery to repair the foot. It won't cause him to miss any time in 2011, and it will ensure that the problem shouldn't resurface.
Surely, surgery is nothing to scoff at, especially when it involves a first-ballot Hall of Famer who is the highest-paid player in the game, but Brady showed some real mettle while battling through his foot injury this season. It would only make sense that this surgery could make him more productive in 2011.
