Tom Brady‘s hand looked pretty swollen when he took the field on Sunday, and his play seemed to indicate there was a problem. But, if something is wrong, Brady isn’t telling.
“[I am] never going to get into how I feel,” Brady said on WEEI’s Dennis and Callahan on Monday morning.
Brady’s hand became a point of focus last week after he was seen fidgeting with it during a loss to the Jets the Sunday before. He also found his way onto the Patriots’ injury report this week, albeit with a “shoulder” injury. He was spotted with the middle and ring finger on his right hand — his throwing hand — taped together during an event at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, further fueling the speculation about an injury. Then on Sunday, the CBS cameras focused in on Brady’s hand to show what looked like some serious inflammation.
An interception on his first pass of the game followed by a dismal first half, which included just 25 passing yards, raised concern about his health and even had some calling for backup Ryan Mallett to replace the ailing Brady at halftime. Brady quieted those murmurs with a gritty second-half comeback, though, downplaying the idea of an injury affecting his performance.
“I feel great. For this time of year, I feel exceptional,” Brady said. “I don’t have anything that affects anything what I’m doing out on the field. Whatever it is, our lack of play on our offense is more of a lack of execution than anything else. We’ll focus on that this week and try to go out there and try to get to 7-2. I know it hasn’t been perfect, and there’s a lot of things that we need to do better. But at the same time, we’re in a pretty good position in our division.”
Between Brady’s improved precision, a boost from the running game and some sound play on defense, the Patriots managed to march back in the second half for a 27-17 win. The Patriots have one more test ahead of them when the Steelers come to town next Sunday before Brady and the rest of the bunch get a brief reprieve with a much-needed bye week. Then again, if you ask Brady, he’ll probably tell you he doesn’t need it.
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