Tom Brady's knee is officially more scrutinized than Tim Tebow. After the New England Patriots quarterback fell to the ground during a training camp practice last week, clinching "that knee", the Patriots organization is being more than cautious when it comes to his health. After multiple MRIs and exams checked out negative, Brady is back on the field, but sporting a little extra protection at the request of owner Robert Kraft.
After practice on Monday, reports asked Brady about the new knee brace he was wearing. It was noted that the quarterback was not wearing any sort of brace of protection when he was hit last week.
"Mr. Kraft felt pretty strongly about me wearing it," Brady said. "He said, 'What's the problem?' I said, 'I'll wear it. I'll wear it.'"
There is no point in taking any more risks with a quarterback who has won the MVP award twice and is the center piece of the entire Patriots team. New England is counting on Brady, so when the owner tells him to wear a brace, he wears it.
The official diagnosis on Brady was a sprained left knee. Brady was knocked over by left tackle Nate Solder who was hit by Tampa Bay defensive end Adrian Clayborn during a joint practice. Brady says he knew he was fine the moment he was hit to the ground, but the knee became a point of speculation for the next 24 hours.
"As soon as I got inside and had our trainers get a chance to look at it. There're a lot worse injuries that I've had and a lot of guys have played with far worse," Brady said, via the Press Herald. "I felt bad that it got the attention that it did because a lot of guys deal with a lot of stuff on a daily basis. I'm just lucky to be out here. After what happened to me in 2008, I love coming out to practice and playing and nothing is as exciting as that for me."
Brady returned to practice the next day and played the first two series of the team's Friday night preseason game. He went 11-of-12 for 107 yards and a touchdown. Brady noted that of course he was concerned the second he went to the ground. The quarterback said just the nature of football always makes things a little scary.
