Whether Tom Brady has been playing on an injured MCL or not, the New England Patriots must find a way going forward to keep No. 12 healthy.
Brady recently stated he plans to play in 2019, when he will turn 42, and former Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi believes Bill Belichick must take a page out of the New Orleans Saints’ book in order to limit the wear on Brady’s aging body.
On Thursday’s episode of ESPN’s “First Take,” Bruschi detailed how Belichick and the Patriots might craft a plan to help the 41-year-old Brady going forward.
“I just look at other teams and how they’ve dealt with, you know, aging quarterbacks and how they’ve tried to make them last all 16 games,” Bruschi said. “And I look at the New Orleans Saints because I see Drew Brees also getting there close to his 40s and what has Sean Payton done to take care of Drew Brees, if you will, take reps off Drew Brees’ body, if you will? I see a player like Taysom Hill. I see Taysom Hill come in and get a handful of reps where Drew Brees is just lined up there at wide receiver and he’s doing nothing, and it gives you that extra dimension of an offense and also an athlete at quarterback that gives defenses has to worry about different things and you’re taking reps off your quarterback.
“I haven’t checked this out, but how many reps has Taysom Hill taken off of Drew Brees, and does that help Drew Brees stay healthy for all 16 into the playoffs? I’ve watched this throughout the year, and I think it’s a unique situation to where also Drew Brees, who’s my MVP this year, doesn’t have the ball in his hands at times, isn’t the one throwing the football.
“Possibly, does Bill Belichick look to see what Sean Payton has been doing in New Orleans and implement that next year by using a type of athlete playing quarterback?”
It would seem unlikely that Belichick would opt to adopt a wrinkle that takes the ball out of Brady’s hands for multiple plays a game. Then again, if the Patriots can find a player like Hill, who is both dynamic and trustworthy, they might be willing to do so in order to keep TB12 healthy.
