FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Patriots quarterback Tom Brady accepted another league-wide award Wednesday, one that the 10-year veteran knew nothing about when he took the podium after his team’s practice.
“I didn’t know that,” Brady said of being named 2009 comeback player of the year. “So thank you.”
Brady, a former NFL MVP, then went on to joke that his parents must have had votes to swing the award his way, making light of his statistically dominant season after a severely damaged knee kept him out of 15 games in 2008.
He started every game and threw for 4,398 yards, 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, while completing 66 percent of his passes. On Sunday, Brady is set to start at home against the Ravens in his first playoff game since a devastating Super Bowl loss to the Giants at the end of the 2007 season.
Upbeat and cracking jokes in the locker room, Brady seemed supremely relaxed despite the speculation that has been swirling around him.
Brady is playing with either cracked or broken ribs. His favorite and most trusted receiver Wes Welker is out with a knee injury. The New England defense that had been so opportunistic and dominant during the three Super Bowl- winning years looks vulnerable against the run and even more helpless at times against the pass. The effort by wide receiver Randy Moss has been questioned again this season, and who will get the bulk of the rushes Sunday among the merry-go-round that is Laurence Maroney, Fred Taylor, Kevin Faulk and Sammy Morris is anyone’s guess.
The obstacles have left the Patriots more reliant on Brady, who, if you listen to talk in the Boston area, hasn’t been as sparkling as his numbers indicate.
“I’ve been playing with Tom for 10 years. He’s like a brother — the things that he does, the way he came back from injury last year,” Faulk said. “I know in his heart he feels like he hasn’t played his best football yet, but at the same time, we always have confidence in him.”
Although the knee became an afterthought as the season progressed, reports of three cracked ribs and a hurt finger surfaced during the Patriots’ loss to Houston on Sunday in the regular-season finale, leading some to wonder whether the quarterback is suffering more than he or the team is letting on.
Coach Bill Belichick avoids discussing player injuries, but said Brady “had a tremendous year. I think we all know that. Tom just brings so much to this team and our organization on and off the field: his preparation, his leadership, his performance, his unselfishness. All the things that he gives us are just top shelf, whether he did or didn’t play last year.”
Brady’s dazzling rise from third-stringer to starter after the injury to Drew Bledsoe in 2001 has become part of NFL lore, with his three Super Bowl rings cementing his status as an icon in New England.
But after a few failed fourth-quarter comebacks featuring the types of mistakes Brady had previously avoided, buzz around the Boston area is that the quarterback is having an off season, despite his numbers and the award.
But Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis isn’t falling for it. The Ravens defense has lost two starting cornerbacks, has a gimpy safety in Ed Reed and is facing questions about whether it is as good as it was as recently as last season.
“I think that’s the biggest setup ever,” Lewis said. “You look at all the great ones, and every time you think they’re hurt, they come out and have their best game.”
