FOXBORO, Mass. — After sitting out the New England Patriots’ first two preseason games, quarterback Tom Brady said he hopes to see the field during the third this Friday.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Brady said in his Tuesday news conference. “I’d like to be out there every time I get a chance to play. You only get so many opportunities a year. I’m getting so many opportunities left in my life, so I’d like to take advantage of any opportunity — any and all of them if possible. When you see your teammates out there in their uniforms and ready to go, you want to be out there with them.”
Brady missed the Patriots’ preseason opener to attend a memorial service for a family member, then sat out last Thursday’s game against the Chicago Bears after slicing his thumb on a pair of scissors.
Brady will be forced to stay away from the team for the first four weeks of the regular season while he serves his Deflategate suspension, so getting in some reps during the preseason might be beneficial, even for a player with nearly two decades of NFL experience under his belt.
“I don’t think any (game reps) hurt,” said Brady, who has yet to face a live pass rush this summer. “So I think just do the best you can do. We’re preparing a lot of guys to get ready to play. I fit into that, but so do a lot of other guys. I’m just taking the advice of (Patriots coach Bill Belichick), and whatever he wants to do, I’m going to do everything I can to be ready to go when I am called upon. That’s what my responsibility is, so that’s what I’m preparing to do.”
Since Brady will not be allowed to practice with any current Patriots players during his suspension, it has been speculated that he might reach out to some of his former teammates for help.
Ex-Patriots running back Kevin Faulk, for instance, recently said in a “NESN Sports Today” interview that he was “almost positive” wide receiver Wes Welker will work out with Brady during his ban. Faulk also expected Brady to place a call to Randy Moss, who caught an NFL-record 23 touchdown passes from the Patriots signal-caller in 2007.
Brady, however, said he hasn’t made any concrete plans for how he’ll spend those four weeks.
“No, I haven’t put much thought into it,” he said. “It’s been busy, obviously with the practices and so forth. We’ve still got a couple important weeks for this training and for this phase of the season. I want to put all my effort and thoughts into this week and next week, try to go out and play in a couple good preseason games, see if I can get some of that game action, and then deal with that when it comes.”
Thumbnail photo via Jeremy Brevard/USA TODAY Sports Images
