Patriots coy, but Brady will likely play
New England staying tight-lipped about star QB’s injury, but reports say he’ll play
OK, you can panic a bit, New England Patriots fans.
Tom Brady did not practise on Thursday after injuring his right hand at Wednesday’s team workout.
Although reporters and cameramen saw the quarterback in full uniform during the warm-up portion they were permitted to observe — and although Brady appeared ready to go with nothing but a warm-weather football glove on his wounded right hand — the Patriots injury report issued late Thursday afternoon indicated Brady did not participate at all in the practice portion of the session.
It was at Wednesday’s practice that a teammate accidentally jammed the New England quarterback’s throwing hand. but X-rays were negative, reports said.
Still, Brady is expected to play in Sunday’s AFC championship game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, multiple reports said Thursday.
The 40-year-old was scheduled to speak to reporters both Wednesday and Thursday, but those sessions were scrubbed. He’s now scheduled to speak Friday afternoon.
In the NFL, a head coach usually is the only team member permitted to disclose injury information and you better believe that’s the case with the Patriots. But because Bill Belichick did not speak to reporters Thursday, we’ll have to wait until Friday morning now to hear Belichick shed absolutely zero additional light on the situation.
Myriad other Patriots players were asked Thursday by reporters as to how Brady looked at practice.
Unsurprisingly, given the usual information-lockdown culture Belichick has created in Foxborough, Mass., nobody divulged a thing.
“I’m not a doctor or anything like that,” said centre David Andrews, the only offensive player who held a news conference Thursday, when asked how Brady specifically hurt his hand Wednesday. “I am just focused on what I have to do to get ready this week. I don’t really remember.”
So how did Brady look at Thursday’s practice?
“Ask him how he felt,” Andrews said.
Did Brady throw any footballs at all on Thursday?
“Like I said, I am worried about what I am doing. You can ask him how it went.” Well, no, reporters couldn’t. Eventually, Andrews was asked if he could at least say whether he snapped a football to Brady at Thursday’s practice. “I snap it to all the quarterbacks. Whoever is back there, I am going to snap it to” them, he said.
Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone was asked Thursday morning about Brady’s injury and at least he actually gave a decent answer. A pretty good one at that.
Asked whether Brady’s injury might compel the Jags to prepare for more shotgun formations than usual from Brady and the Patriots (which they use the majority of the time anyway), Marrone quipped: “No. I’m sure he can throw left-handed if he has a problem with his right hand and throw it just as well. I mean that. I remember seeing this before. He’s one of the most naturally gifted throwers, personally, that I have ever seen. He can pick up a ball any date and throw it.”
NFL Network reported that the last time Brady missed a Thursday practice was late in the 2016 season.
SICK OF THE PATS?
A lot of people are tired of seeing the New England Patriots win. Ya think?
“I do. You hear it a lot,” Jacksonville Jaguars defensive lineman Malik Jackson said Thursday, prior to Sunday’s AFC championship game at New England. “I think the Patriots would disagree … but we’ll see what happens.”
This is the seventh straight year the Patriots have advanced to the AFC title game. Three times in that span they have advanced to the Super Bowl, where they’ve won twice.
“I know that we would love to go. We’re really big on telling fans that we’re growing, this is a new Jags team and we really want to start,” Jackson said. “To be able to get to the Super Bowl this year in our first year when we’re all together, especially under coach (Doug) Marrone, would be awesome.
“But like I said, we have Goliath in front of us, so we can’t really be looking too far ahead. If we do, we’d be like the Steelers. We’ll see.”
TWINS ON TITLE MARCH
Oh, brother. It’s been feast or famine for the McCourty twins as far as NFL playoff action is concerned.
For safety Devin McCourty and a handful of New England Patriots, Sunday’s showdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars will be their seventh consecutive AFC championship game.
Given the lack of fortune his brother has experienced, McCourty said he’d be the last one to take a post-season opportunity for granted, even though this it’s his 18th playoff game in eight seasons as a Patriot.
“I hate to say this every year, but my (twin) brother (Jason) has been in the league nine years and never played in a playoff game,” McCourty said. “We’re very close and we talk all the time. He just wants to play in a playoff game.”
Jason entered the NFL in 2009, a year before Devin. The twins are 30 years old. Jason, a cornerback, played for the Tennessee Titans for eight seasons before joining the Cleveland Browns in 2017 — without a single postseason berth along the way.
“I’ve played in a ton of these AFC championship games, so I never take it for granted,” Devin said. “It’s a great opportunity. “You try to do everything you can every day. Whether it’s your body, whether it’s mentally. Just being able to try to play your best. To me, it’s not just to get to that next game (the Super Bowl). It’s what you’re doing for your teammates.”