I’m now going to declare myself a pillar of naivete and gullability: I think Tom Brady is hurt.
There were a couple plays in the AFC championship game when an ankle injury to Brady could have taken place. I thought there were times after those plays when Brady’s mechanics seemed off, and an inability to push off with his lower body could have been the reason. Some tried to spin Brady’s performance against the Chargers with the old, “he managed the game well,” thing, but the truth is he played as poorly as he has in at least a year.
The big reason I suspect Brady is hurt is the same reason so many suspect he’s not: The way the Pats have handled it. In a profession known for paranoia, Bill Belichick is a legend for how secretive and anal and Gestapo-esque he is about injuries.
So lets assume this whole thing has been orchestrated. The only thing the Patriots have done to suggest he’s hurt has been the protective-boot thing in Greenwich Village a week ago. But everything since then has been to suggest that he didn’t need the boot. Hours later he was photographed wearing cowboy boots while clubbing in New York City.
And then there was Belichick yukking about the injury report, and Brady stating very emphatically that everything’s OK, and the other Pats solemnly claiming that, “Yeah, coach said he’s going to play me at QB and run the option.” Nudge, giggle, roll your eyes, etc.
Everyone in America, and more importantly in the Giants’ locker room, is now convinced Brady’s not hurt. Question: How does that help the Patriots? Why create the impression he’s not hurt if he’s not hurt? Why use a disinformation machine to provide information? Why fire up the machine to tell a banal truth? Wouldn’t doing nothing at all have created the same impression?
I’m not saying Brady is seriously hurt. He’s not going to miss the Super Bowl, and he may not be seriously impaired when he does play (although I bet he’s in the shotgun more than usual). By game time, it will have been two weeks since it happened.
But he is hurt, and people seem way too determined to scoff about it.
