Pats’ Brady says he’ll be ready to play

Published 10:50 pm Sunday, January 27, 2008

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Quarterback Tom Brady said shortly after the New England Patriots arrived here Sunday evening for Super Bowl XLII that he has tested his injured right ankle enough to be certain that he will be able to be in the lineup next weekend against the New York Giants when he and his teammates try to complete the first 19-0 season in NFL history.

“It’s feeling good,” Brady said during a news conference at the Patriots’ hotel. “I’ll be ready to go. I think we need three great days of practice, which I hope to be participating in.”

After being chased by paparazzi early last week in New York and then disappearing from view when the Patriots reconvened late in the week in Foxborough, Mass., for two days of practices, Brady expressed relief to be back in a normal football routine — even if it is under the relatively bright spotlight of Super Bowl week. Brady said he suffered his injury, reportedly a mild-ankle sprain, on a third-quarter sack during the Patriots’ triumph over the San Diego Chargers in the AFC championship game.

He didn’t practice Thursday or Friday in Foxborough, but he said that he’d tested his ankle by performing some drop-backs and throwing some passes — “enough to realize I’ll be able to play on Sunday.”

Said Brady: “I’m not concerned about how it’s going to affect my playing. I can’t run anyway, so it’s not going to have much of an effect.”

Brady walked without a limp as he made his way to a podium to speak, wearing a blue pinstripe suit. There was no sign of the protective boot on his right foot that caused such a stir last week. He said he was uncertain if he would participate in the Patriots’ first practice of the week Wednesday.

“I don’t know,” said Brady, who has started 126 consecutive games, including the postseason. “It’s a couple days away. But I’m feeling better.”

Patriots coach Bill Belichick was his usual secretive self when he was asked about Brady’s status.

“We’ll update our injury report on Wednesday when we’re required to do that by the league,” said Belichick, who’s seeking his fourth Super Bowl title in a seven-year span with Brady. “We’re looking forward to that.”

The Patriots’ plane landed on a rainy evening in the Phoenix area after taking off in light snow earlier in the day in New England. A crowd of about 15,000 people showed up at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough for a team sendoff.

Brady was photographed in New York early last week wearing a protective boot on his right foot while walking near the Manhattan apartment of his girlfriend, model Gisele Bundchen. But photos surfaced of him later that night and the next day minus the boot, and he told a Boston radio station that his injury was minor and there was no doubt he would play in the Super Bowl.

Brady said his experiences made for an “interesting week” even for someone as accustomed to dealing with media attention as he is. He said he was glad to be back in the “isolated halls of our locker room.” The only question that seemed to annoy him Sunday night was one about whether Bundchen would join him for the Super Bowl, to which Brady said tersely: “I have no idea. Next question.”

Said Belichick: “Nobody works harder and is more professional and more prepared than Tom Brady. However he manages his life, I’d say he does a real good job of it.”

Brady threw three interceptions in the AFC title game in an uncharacteristically shaky performance. A right-handed quarterback like Brady must plant on his right foot at the end of his drop-back and push off that foot as he throws, and a wobbly right leg perhaps could result in some unusual inaccuracy. For the Patriots, there is less margin for error than usual in this game. The Giants already have demonstrated that they can play with the Patriots in a high-profile game. They led by 12 points in the second half and lost by only 38-35 in the regular season finale at Giants Stadium, televised by three networks as the Patriots went for their 16th win.

Brady is not a running quarterback, but he is clever and relatively agile in the pocket, and he could have some trouble if he’s not mobile enough to sidestep Giants pass rushers Osi Umenyiora, Michael Strahan and Justin Tuck. The Giants led the league in sacks during the regular season.

This is not the first time that Brady has arrived at a Super Bowl with a bad ankle. His status for his first Super Bowl was in doubt during the week leading up to the game because of a sprained left ankle. Then, the Patriots had reliable veteran Drew Bledsoe as a alternative if needed. Now, Brady’s untested backup is Matt Cassel.

“This won’t keep me out of this game,” Brady said. “That didn’t keep me out of that game. It would take a hell of a lot more than an ankle.”

The Patriots have been accustomed, especially this season, to an unerring Brady. He set an NFL record with 50 touchdown passes during the regular season and overwhelmingly was voted the league’s most valuable player. The Patriots set the NFL’s single-season scoring record, and wide receiver Randy Moss set a single-season mark with 23 touchdown catches.

But as they vie to join the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only unbeaten teams in NFL history, the Patriots arrived here with questions about both Brady and Moss. The Patriots’ two opponents during the AFC playoffs, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Chargers, blanketed Moss with extra defenders and limited him to a total of two catches in the two games. Moss also had to devote attention to defending himself publicly against a battery allegation by a Florida woman, which he denied. But now a chance to make football history is at hand.

“This is a one-game season,” Belichick said. “All of our focus is on the New York Giants next Sunday, and that’s all there is.”