Brady tosses 500th TD as Pats top Indy
On the night he reached 500 career touchdown passes, Tom Brady welcomed back a buddy with one of his three scoring tosses Thursday, then connected with a newcomer who could help him reach more milestones.
Brady also sneaked in for a rushing touchdown and the Patriots put together their second straight win after a mediocre start to the season, beating the Colts 38-24 in Foxborough, Mass.
Brady’s 500th went to Josh Gordon, recently acquired from Cleveland, where he basically was unavailable through NFL suspensions for all but five games over the past three seasons. But, as he often does, Brady spread the wealth, hitting running back James White 10 times for 77 yards, and greeting the return of buddy Julian Edelman from a four game suspension for violating the league’s performance=enhancing drugs policy, by completing seven for 57 yards to him.
“We wanted to get [Edelman] the ball and he made some great plays,” Brady said. “Just good to have him out there. We all want it to be perfect when we go out and it was great to have him out there ... healthy and having fun.”
As everyone in Gillette Stadium except, apparently, the Colts knew, Brady started off with a pass to Edelman, who was wide open for 9 yards. That drew the first of many loud cheers for the 10th-year veteran receiver in his first game since the 2017 preseason, when he tore up a knee.
As for 500 TD passes, third on the career list behind Peyton Manning (539) and Brett Favre (508), Brady called it a collective mark.
“A quarterback doesn’t throw to himself,” he said. “These are all great team awards, pretty cool.”
The five-time NFL champion also tied Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri, a former teammate, for most victories with 226. Brady finished 34 for 44 for 341 yards. JAGUARS: Cornerback Jalen Ramsey doesn’t view Chiefs speedster Tyreek
Hill as much of a matchup concern — at least not as a receiver.
Ramsey fired back at Hill Thursday, pointing out that his two Pro Bowl appearances came as a returner.
“I don’t like how whoever has made it a matchup me against Tyreek,” Ramsey said three days before the Chiefs (4-0) host the Jaguars (3-1).
“He’s good for what he does for their team. He made AllPro as a return specialist. Let’s get that right — as a return specialist — his rookie year. He went to two Pro Bowls as a return specialist — return specialist — two years.
“I made All-Pro in my position as a corner, went to the Pro Bowl as a corner. So it’s not a wide receiver versus corner matchup, so we can get that out of the way off the bat.” PACKERS: Green Bay was missing star quarterback Aaron Rodgers when they closed last season with a road loss to the Lions.
When the Packers return to Detroit on Sunday, Rodgers could be without his top three receivers.
Davante Adams injured a calf on Wednesday and did not practice on Thursday. Randall Cobb injured a hamstring last week, didn’t play on Sunday against Buffalo and hasn’t practiced this week. Geronimo Allison suffered a concussion last week and hasn’t practiced this week, either.
SEAHAWKS: There’s no more uncertainty about Seattle’s situation at free safety. No more debate about whether Earl Thomas will practice or not, or whether a trade is coming.
With Thomas gone for the year with a broken leg, the Seahawks are finally clear that Tedric Thompson is their starting free safety.
SAINTS: Running back Mark Ingram could see the New Orleans offense was doing fine without him while he was at home in Florida, watching on television like any other fan during his fourgame suspension.
“I’ve had a lot of stuff pent up and built up and I’m ready to go. I’m hungry and ready to play ball and just help our team,” said Ingram, whose suspension stemmed from his use of a banned substance.
Ingram joins a unit that has averaged 418.3 yards and 34.3 points per game. Alvin Kamara, the 2017 offensive rookie of the year, has gotten more work in Ingram’s absence and he leads the NFL with 611 yards from scrimmage (275 rushing, 336 passing) and six TDs.