Patriots coach Bill Belichick had no interest in discussing quarterback Tom Brady’s hand injury in the days leading up to the AFC Championship Game and he didn’t have much to say about the injury after the 24-20 win either.
Belichick brushed off a question at his press conference about how Brady handled things in and outside the locker room by saying Brady did a great job preparing and said there weren’t any changes to the game plan due to the cut Brady suffered in practice on Wednesday. The final question referencing Brady’s injury had to do with his toughness and Belichick’s response left little doubt that he was moving on to other topics.
“I mean, look, Tom did a great job and he’s a tough guy,” Belichick said. “We all know that, alright? But, we’re not talking about open-heart surgery here.”
Brady called the injury “bothersome” in his postgame press conference, but he spent the fourth quarter doing surgery on the Jaguars defense to close out the comeback and another trip to the Super Bowl.