The thumb was a pretty big deal. But after advancing to yet another Super Bowl, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady didn’t want to sound like a jerk.
“I think it kind of sounds arrogant to say, ‘Oh, yeah, it bothered me,’ when you have a pretty good game. So I won’t say it,” Brady said, via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com.
He even used a Tiger Woods analogy, saying he didn’t want to make more of the thumb injury than already had been, since it would have been like a much younger Woods (back when he was good at golf) saying he played his “C game” and still won.
Regardless, Brady carved up the league’s best defense, throwing two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Danny Amedola (his 54th career comeback win), and completing 26-of-38 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns to earn a trip to his eighth Super Bowl.
But he did admit it was a concern, after colliding in practice with teammate Rex Burkhead in practice Wednesday and needing stitches to close the gash.
“I thought, ‘Of all the plays, my season can’t end on a handoff in practice. I didn’t come this far to end on a handoff,’” Brady said. “I never had anything like it.
“I’ve had a couple of crazy injuries, but this was pretty crazy. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do. Wednesday, Wednesday night, Thursday, I wasn’t sure. Friday, gained a little confidence. Saturday, trying to figure out what we could do. Sunday, try to come out here and make it happen.”
He wouldn’t say how many stitches he had (reports pegged it at 12) but said they’d probably come out midweek.
That gives us two more weeks to document his progress, and whether he wears gloves during practice or just the black tape wrap he used Sunday — to great effect.