The *Boston Globe *checks in with Doug Flutie, who was teammates with Tom Bradyand Matt Casselin 2005 and is confident Cassel can shoulder the load for the rest of the season.
“I think the world of Matt and I think he can handle it,” Flutie told the Globe.
Meanwhile, the Boston Herald is calling on the defense to pick up the slack in Brady's absence.
The *Herald *also caught up with former Patriots' backup Jim Miller, who says Bill Belichick will find a way to keep the team afloat without Brady.
“He’s not happy Tom got hurt, but it’s a new challenge. He loves this stuff, and this team thrives on this kind of situation,” Miller told the Herald.
In the locker room, the players remain upbeat and refuse to use Brady's injury as an excuse.
“It isn’t like we are going to pack it in and call it a season,” Richard Seymourtold the Providence Journal.
Nose tackle Vince Wilforkis upset with Bernard Pollard, who caused Brady's injury, and is also upset the Chiefs' safety didn't get fined since Wilfork himself got fined last year for a hit on Bills' quarterback J.P. Losman.
“I don’t care how much you didn’t try to do it, you tried to do it, I don’t care about that,” Wilfork told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
Quick hits
*ESPN *talks to Southern California coach Pete Carroll, who coached the Patriots in the late 1990s and also coached Cassel in college. Carroll is looking forward to watching Cassel take on the Jets this weekend.
“He's fortunate to have this chance. He's got the chance to beat Brett Favre, which would be pretty cool,” Carroll told ESPN.
Yahoo! says Brady's injury leaves the Dallas Cowboys as the team to beat in the NFL.
Sports Illustrated says Brady's injury is the reason the NFL shouldn't add more games to its regular-season schedule.
