FOXBORO — Tom Brady appeared to have some extra pep in his step when he took the Gillette Stadium turf Sunday afternoon.
Prior to the New England Patriots’ divisional-round matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers, reports surfaced that Brady had dealt with a sprained MCL for “several weeks” during the regular season. Aside from looking noticeably different in the pocket, concern about Brady’s knee grew when the 41-year-old quarterback altered his warmup routine.
For the bulk of his 19-year career, Brady has jogged the full length of the field upon emerging from the tunnel. In recent weeks, however, he’s pulled up around midfield. But now that Brady reportedly is healthy as can be, coupled with the jolt of the postseason, the veteran signal-caller returned to his usual 100-yard jaunt and fired up Patriots fans after reaching the end zone.
https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/1084502243653677056
Tom Brady jogged all the way to the far end zone as he took the field. 👀👀👀
— Zack Cox (@zm_cox) January 13, 2019
Tom Brady jogs the length of the field as he comes out for warmups, a sign he’s feeling completely healthy or close enough to it with his left knee. He hadn’t been doing that for weeks
— Karen Guregian (@kguregian) January 13, 2019
Certainly a good sign for the Patriots.
With a win over the Chargers, New England will advance to an eighth straight AFC Championship Game next weekend against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.