The drama over Tom Brady's knee last week reached nearly Shakespearean levels. But, as it turned out, the matter was much ado about nothing.
Brady wound up missing much of last Wednesday's joint practice with the Buccaneers, but returned the next day for the walkthrough practice and looked no worse for wear in the preseason game with Tampa on Friday night.
After today's practice, Brady answered media questions for about 10 minutes, and he was sporting a large brace on that injured left knee – something he wasn't wearing at the time of the injury. Since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in that same knee in 2008, Brady routinely wears a brace in games, though not in practice, he pointed out.
"I had it today. Everyone was very pleased," he smiled. "[Team owner Robert] Kraft felt pretty strongly about me wearing it. He said, 'What's the problem?' I said 'I'll wear it, I'll wear it."
Brady was very matter-of-fact about the whole episode at first, but conceded he felt a bit apprehensive after going through that much worse ordeal in '08.
"I don't want to make a fuss about it, but at that time, I didn't have too much of a choice…. There are a lot worse injuries that I've had.
"It's a little scary when you go down, but that's the sport. I'm certainly not the first or the last to have it happen. I'm fortunate that it wasn't very bad. I was able to get treatment and get back on the field with my teammates. After what happened to me in 2008, I love coming out to practice and playing. Nothing is as exciting as that for me," he said. "I take every day and I enjoy it, because there's no place I'd rather be."
