Tom Brady has been limited in practice the past two weeks with a calf injury.
The ailment doesn’t seem like a huge issue, with Brady even making light of his presence on the Patriots’ injury report Wednesday ahead of New England’s Week 4 game against the Buffalo Bills. But Cris Carter explained Friday, one day after Brady was removed from the injury report, that the Patriots sure seem somewhat concerned given their decision to sign a third quarterback, Cody Kessler, earlier this week.
“No one takes better care of the 53-man roster than Bill Belichick. There is no person on his roster that doesn’t have a specific purpose for what they’re trying to do,” Carter said on FS1’s “First Things First.” “And I know they don’t have a future for Cody Kessler. But what they do is ‘a right now’ — ‘I need you to be able to take a certain number of snaps in practice.’ That is totally against what Tom Brady would typically want to do. (Brady) is a practiceaholic — he’s getting every snap that he’s out there, he loves practicing outdoors, he loves that part of football, and that’s made him great. Why would you have (Kessler) on the roster?
“If you don’t think he’s some prospect you can develop, that shows me that they know this issue with Brady and his calf, it’s not something they can take lightly. So, yes, it brings up my concern. When you look at the offensive line — the depleted offensive line — they could use an extra offensive lineman, compared to an extra quarterback. Tom Brady’s the greatest ever. If there wasn’t a concern there, why would you have another arm in your camp, in your building?”
Brady showed no ill effects of a balky calf in Week 3, throwing for 306 yards with two touchdowns to zero interceptions as the Patriots steamrolled the New York Jets 30-14 at Gillette Stadium. But it’s definitely worth monitoring — after all, Brady acknowledged Wednesday he’s no longer a “spring chicken” — as New England tries to keep its 42-year-old quarterback fresh for another Super Bowl run later this season.
