Brady: ‘Still have more to prove’
Whether Tom Brady will return as quarterback of the Patriots next season is still an open question. But the 42-year-old on Wednesday gave another indication that he isn’t done playing football.
In an Instagram post to fans, Brady said “I still have more to prove” following a season that ended with the Patriots failing to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since 2015.
“In both life and football, failure is inevitable,” he wrote. “You don’t always win. You can, however, learn from that failure, pick yourself up with great enthusiasm, and place yourself in the arena again.”
The Patriots’ season ended with a 20-13 loss in the wild-card round to the Titans on Saturday night. A six-time Super Bowl champion, four-time MVP of the NFL title game and three-time winner of the league MVP, Brady could become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career when his contract ends in March.
That has placed team owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick on the clock to either bring back Brady for his 21st season or watch the franchise’s greatest player depart from the only team he’s called home.
Belichick said this week that there isn’t an established timeline to resolve Brady’s status, but he acknowledged that his case is unusual.
“Everybody’s situation is different,” Belichick said. “Certainly, Tom is an iconic figure in this organization. And nobody respects Tom more than I do.”
Vikings’ Thielen hurting: Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen has an ankle injury that limited him Wednesday in practice.
Thielen was on the field with the team for the start of the workout and added to the injury report afterward, a sign that he was hurt during practice.
The two-time Pro Bowler was sidelined for close to half of the regular season because of a hamstring injury, before his sevencatch, 129-yard performance in the team’s NFC playoff win over the favored Saints last weekend. The Vikings visit the top-seeded 49ers on Saturday.
Wide receiver Stefon Diggs missed practice for the second straight day because of an illness, but coach Mike Zimmer said “he will be fine” and expects him to play.
Nickel cornerback Mackensie Alexander, who was sidelined against the Saints, remains out with a knee injury.
49ers defense getting healthy: The 49ers defense is about to be almost whole again at just the right time of the season.
Key starters Kwon Alexander, Dee Ford and Jaquiski Tartt are slated to return to the lineup for Saturday’s game against the Vikings after injuries took a toll on the unit over the second half of the season.
“It’s kind of a confidence boost,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “It’s been a while since we had all those guys back on the field together. The more weapons we have the more powerful we’ll be.”
The returns bode well for the postseason because few teams were as dominant as the 49ers were defensively over the first eight weeks of the season when the defense was mostly healthy.
The 49ers allowed only 0.86 points per drive during that span, ranking second best in the league. That number grew to 2.08 over the final nine weeks, ranking 30th.
While the competition did get tougher in the second half, the defense for the 49ers also wasn’t nearly as potent with speedy linebacker and emotional leader Alexander going down with a torn pectoral muscle in Week 8, speed rusher Ford limited to four snaps over the final seven games because of a bum hamstring and versatile safety Tartt missing the final four games with injured ribs.
Having that trio back should provide a big boost against Kirk Cousins and the Vikings. The impact is already apparent on the practice field.
“It’s just fun to watch,” tight end George Kittle said. “Sometimes in practice when the defense is up, the offense is off and you’ll be talking about plays and stuff. This week when we have all our guys back, you just want to watch because it’s fun to see them work together again.”
The 49ers won’t be completely healthy on defense with runstuffing defensive tackle D.J. Jones and reserve defensive end Ronald Blair out for the season, but this will be as healthy as the team has been since its dominant stretch early in the season.