Brady in doubt after hand injury
TOM Brady is staying mum on his status for the AFC championship game after suffering a right hand injury earlier in the week.
Brady said a bit contentiously only ‘‘we’ll see’’ yesterday when asked whether he would play in tomorrow’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 tomorrow after being a limited participant in practice yesterday. He was also limited on Thursday. He sat out practice on Friday, 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. They strip it off 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 playoff start during his 18-year career.
‘‘Tom always tends to show up in big games. This is a big game,’’ receiver Danny Amendola said. GETTY IMAGES ‘‘[He’s] super tough. The toughest. He’s a warrior, he’s a competitor and there’s really only one reason why he’s here, and that’s to play football. ‘‘
Jacksonville are preparing like Brady will be in the huddle as usual tomorrow. 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 GETTY IMAGES 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 fixing to go throw this touchdown the next play. Forty yards. You happy about that sack? But there you go.’ That’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 playoff start was the antithesis of a Brady performance. For Houston in a 2015 AFC wild card matchup with Kansas City, Hoyer completed 15 of 34 passes for 136 yards, with no touchdowns and five turnovers (four interceptions) in a 30-0 loss.
Hoyer, a former Patriot, was acquired in mid-season 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 yesterday. - AP said whether it will bid again.
The social network hasn’t shied away from expensive sports rights, and its lack of interest in the NFL Thursday package doesn’t indicate that it’s backing off, said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The company has streamed live Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, college football and European soccer games in the past two years. It offered $600 million for the rights to an Indian cricket league, losing out to Fox, and has been boosting its budget for content, including live sports and original shows.
Willem Suyderhoud, a Facebook spokesman, declined to comment. The NFL did not respond to a request for comment.
Though ratings fell 10 percent last season across all games, the NFL remains the most popular programming on television. TV executives, including CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus and Fox chief executive officer James Murdoch, have argued the market has become saturated, with games Thursday, Sunday and Monday. Midweek matchups are also unpopular with players since they don’t get much recovery time from games on the previous Sunday. Washington Post