Brady mum on status for AFC title game after hand injury
Tom Brady is staying mum on his status for the AFC championship game after su ering a righthand injury earlier in the week.
Brady said a bit contentiously only “We’ll see” on Friday when asked whether he would play in Sunday’s conference title game against Jacksonville.
The quarterback wore red gloves and responded to several other questions about how much he practised or how he sustained the injury by saying “I’m not talking about that.”
Brady is listed as questionable for Sunday after being a limited participant in practice Friday. He was also limited on Wednesday.
He sat out practice ursday, but wore a glove on his injured hand during the stretching period open to reporters. He usually only wears a glove on his non-throwing hand.
One thing Brady was clear about was the test he expects from a Jaguars unit ranked second in the NFL in total and scoring defence.
“It’s a very unique challenge,” Brady said. “I think their front three, their linebackers, are very instinctive and very fast. And great cover guys in the secondary. Ball-hawking defence. ey strip it o you, they sack you ... So they’re a good defence.”
Brady appeared on the Patriots’ weekly injury report several times during the latter half of this season with injuries to both his Achilles tendon and his left shoulder. The four-time Super Bowl MVP has never missed a playo start during his 18-year career.
Jacksonville is preparing like Brady will be in the huddle as usual Sunday. Jaguars defensive tackle Marcell Dareus said typical methods of rattling a quarterback don’t apply when it comes to him.
“You can hit Brady, but hitting him isn’t what’s going to get to him. It’s constantly being that gnat in his face. He just hates that gnat just always around,” said Dareus, who might be more familiar than any Jacksonville player with Brady, having spent six-plus seasons with the Bills.
“You sack him he’s going to get up and just keep rolling. He’s that competitive spirit, like, ‘OK, you got me. Now I’m xing to go throw this touchdown the next play. Forty yards. You happy about that sack? But there you go.’ at’s just his mentality. I like it. I love playing against the guy. He’s phenomenal to watch.”
If for some reason Brady can’t go — no, the Earth won’t stop rotating on its axis and New England still would show up to play — the Patriots would look to backup Brian Hoyer.
His last playo start was the antithesis of a Brady performance. For Houston in its 2015 AFC wildcard matchup with Kansas City, Hoyer completed 15 of 34 passes for 136 yards, with no touchdowns and ve turnovers (four interceptions) in a 30-0 loss.
Hoyer, a former Patriot, was acquired in midseason when the Patriots traded Jimmy Garoppolo to San Francisco.
“I’m always preparing to play because the truth of reality is you never know when your name’s gonna be called,” he said ursday.
No QB’S name has been called in the playo s other than Brady’s since the 1990s.