FOXBORO, Mass. — Adrian Clayborn knows to stay away from the quarterback in practice. He tried to on Wednesday, but Tom Brady still got hurt in the process.
Brady went to the ground, clutching his left knee, halfway through the Patriots-Buccaneers joint practice on Tuesday. He returned to practice for five plays (two runs and three passes) before conferring with members of the Patriots’ training staff and being escorted off the field.
Nate Solder was the culprit on the play, rolling up on Brady’s knee and causing the discomfort, but Clayborn was the one who manhandled the left tackle, pushing him all the way back into his quarterback.
“I bullrushed the tackle back, and apparently he tripped on Brady and fell on him. That’s what I’m told,” Clayborn said after practice on Tuesday.
The third-year Bucs defensive end felt bad about his role in the injury but noted that he was just doing his job on the play — something you can’t really fault him for.
“You always gotta stay away from the quarterback,” Clayborn said. “But, if you’ve got a guy on his heels,” like Clayborn did with Solder on the play, “my instinct is to keep going. So, that’s what I did.”
Check out Clayborn’s post-practice comments in the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0TwQzJZ0N6k
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