For years, Tom Brady’s name appeared on every Patriots injury report as having a right shoulder injury. He was always listed as probable, and he never missed a game.
Now, he reportedly has a bone bruise near his elbow, something that never has been disclosed by the team.
Brady, despite wearing a contraption on his arm typically used by folks who have tennis elbow, claims he’s fine.
“I feel great,” Brady said Wednesday, via Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald. “I feel great. I’m excited about this week. I’ll be out there on Sunday as I am always, unless they tell me I can’t be. I’ll be out there. I feel great and I’m ready to go try to play my best football.”
Brady’s passing guru, Tom Martinez, recently told Karen Guregian of the Herald that Brady appears to be playing in pain and that it is “affecting some of his throws.” Martinez said that, as the game progresses, Brady seems to improve, possibly because he decides that he has to simply fight through the pain.
It could just be that Brady is dealing with the increasing strains and pains that seem to emerge as the body ages, and that he’s in denial about the fact that, when the 2012 season starts, he’ll be 35.