TOM THUMB ‘SILLY’ DEAL
Brady victim of his own hand
That’s not what Tom Brady had in mind when he envisioned one to the thumb in 2016.
The New England Patriots’ quarterback confirmed Tuesday that he cut the thumb on his throwing hand last Thursday with a pair of scissors.
It happened just before on-field warm-ups in the Pats’ Week 2 pre-season game against the visiting Chicago Bears.
“Yeah, I was just ready to go, had everything on,” Brady said. “I was just trying to get something out of my shoe and the scissors slipped. Just a silly accident.”
The 39-year-old is gunning for his fifth Super Bowl ring in 2016.
Brady said if it had been a regular-season game, he probably could have played against the Bears — and, in any event, wishes he had.
“I’ve been missing playing and I want to get out there with my teammates,” he said. “It was tough not to be out there.”
Guess you can’t blame Brady for not asking the Patriots’ equipment managers to take care of the cleat problem for him. Not after Deflategate. Six months from now, NFL investigators might have concluded there was some cheating conspiracy afoot. And then he’d eventually be forced to unjustly miss another four games without pay.
New England plays at Carolina on Friday night. Brady said he wants to play a bunch against the Panthers, which probably would be his last taste of game competition until Oct. 9, when he returns from suspension in Week 5 to quarterback the Patriots at Cleveland. CRUZ AT CROSSROADS: Might we finally see Victor Cruz play in an NFL game again? It’s been almost two years since he has. Cruz has been dogged for the past several seasons with assorted serious leg injuries. New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo said before Tuesday’s practice that the wide receiver was scheduled for the second straight day to work out without limitations. McAdoo said the goal for Cruz is to play Saturday against the New York Jets: “It’s important (that he does).”
Cruz has not played in a preseason or regular-season game since he tore the patellar tendon in his right knee on Oct. 12, 2014.
By this year’s training camp Cruz seemed finally to have recovered from that injury, but he pulled a groin muscle Aug. 9 and had been out, or limited, until Monday’s practice.
We’ll soon see if Cruz has any salsa-dance touchdown celebrations left in him. GORDON’S A BROWN: In answer to reports that his Cleveland Browns have declined to engage in trade talks with unnamed NFL teams interested in acquiring him, WR Josh Gordon said Tuesday he hadn’t “heard too much about it. Cleveland is my team. That is where I want to be .... I think the world of (owner Jimmy Haslam and head coach Hue Jackson) and their decisions and this organization.
“They’re family. They’re showing me love and respect by allowing me to stay here up to this point, and I expect to move forward with that. I’m excited about it. It’s where I want to be. I’m happy to be in Cleveland.”
Gordon returned to the NFL in late July after commissioner Roger Goodell voided the ubertalented receiver’s indefinite suspension once he serves a fourgamer to start the regular season. Gordon will be allowed to remain with the club during those four games and can take part in practices during that time.
After Gordon played in all 16 games as a rookie in 2012, the NFL suspended him for two games in his 2013, for 10 games in 2014 and all of last year, for repeated violations of the league’s policy and program on substances of abuse.
In his limited game action, Gordon has been outstanding, catching 161 passes for an average of 17.1 yards, with 14 touchdowns. TULLOCH AN EAGLE: Philadelphia indeed signed ex-Detroit LB Stephen Tulloch. Eagles defensive co-ordinator (and ex-Detroit head coach) Jim Schwartz said Tulloch is “a very experienced player. He’s played at a high level of production, plays with a lot of spirit. He’s heavy in the run game. He has natural leverage. That’s a kind way of saying he’s short, but he’s really powerful.”
While Schwartz said the 31-year-old Tulloch wasn’t signed to replace anybody, and while Tulloch himself said he’s come to Philly to help teach the young linebackers, given Schwartz’s comments and mutual history with Tulloch in Detroit, don’t be surprised if he plays a bunch. TEDDY’S ARM SORE?: Minnesota QB Teddy Bridgewater might indeed have a sore arm. Reports have said that’s why he didn’t play in the Vikings’ Week 2 pre-season game last week, and why he didn’t practise over the weekend. Local reports said Bridgewater threw only short passes Tuesday. Head coach Mike Zimmer was deliberately vaguer: “If he had an issue with his shoulder, I’m going to make sure that I err on the side of caution. If I played him and he got hurt, you guys would be killing me in the press. I’m always going to protect the players.” EXTRA POINTS: Baltimore plans to play quarterback Joe Flacco on Saturday against Detroit. It would be the 31-year-old’s first game action since tearing his left ACL in November ... Not surprisingly, Denver’s Trevor Siemian practised Tuesday but did not throw. Head coach Gary Kubiak said the day before that was likely to happen, after the second-year QB left Saturday’s pre-season game with a sore shoulder. Kubiak on Monday named Siemian as starter for Saturday’s game in LA ... Buffalo closed its training camp at St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, N.Y., with yet more injuries. WR Marquise Goodwin entered the concussion protocol after reports said his head slammed hard on the ground near the end of practice while trying to make a catch. Head coach Rex Ryan also said starting RT Jordan Mills “left with a knee, I can’t tell you the extent of that.”