Bill Belichick Reveals That Tom Brady 'Hasn't Been Able To Do A Lot' In Some Practices
BOSTON (CBS) -- Outside of a torn knee that killed his 2008 season in Week 1, Tom Brady does not miss football games. Aside from that season, he's made every single start of his Hall of Fame career since he took over the starting job in Week 3 of the 2001 season. And over the course of those 281 regular-season starts and 40 more playoff starts, the man has played through quite a bit of pain.
At the same time, Brady spent a number of years being on the injury report, listed as probable with a right shoulder ailment, when it appeared that the quarterback was not suffering from any real injury at all.
So, as Brady has shown up numerous times on the injury report this season due to right elbow, toe and shoulder issues, it's been unclear just how much Brady has been hindered.
While we still don't know the full extent, head coach Bill Belichick let it slip on Tuesday that there have been times at practice when Brady has not been able to do much at all on the practice field.
"Those guys are always ready to go," Belichick said of backup quarterbacks Jarrett Stidham and Cody Kessler. "It's hard to practice with three quarterbacks, but there have been a couple of examples where Tom hasn't been able to do a lot this year. So that's given Stidham an opportunity to go with the first group, to run our plays and run our offense. And that's been good for him. And it's given Cody more of an opportunity to run more of the scout team."
The 42-year-old Brady was wearing a wrap on his right elbow after the Kansas City game, after taking a hit from a helmet directly to the elbow early in that game.
???? @TomBrady getting the arm loose at #Patriots practice today - shakes it out a few times #WBZ pic.twitter.com/wRGTsWNKLl
— Joe Giza (@JoeGiza) December 17, 2019
Tuesday was not a limited day at practice for Brady, though, as the quarterback was not listed on the team's injury report.
In 14 games this season, Brady has completed 60.1 percent of his passes for 3,565 yards with 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He's on pace to finish the year with 24 touchdown passes, which would his fewest in a full season since 2003.