Patriots Talk: Injury Reports heading into Week 2

The New England Patriots are, in under an hour, going to be facing off against the equally win-less New Orleans Saints. Belichick and the team are going to have some serious adjusts today according to Mike Reiss, ESPN Reporter around the New England Patriots. He reported that team captain and Linebacker Dont’a Hightower, who was sidelined last week against the Kansas City Chiefs with a minor MCL sprain, sought a second opinion on his injury from Dr. James Andrews.

While many assumed that the injury was merely minor, it could be something likely worse. Dr. Andrews has connections within the Pats organization, specifically with Patriots’ medical director, Dr. Mark D. Price, a former colleague in Alabama years ago. If Ian Rapoport’s initial report was from Dr. Price’s personal diagnosis on Hightower, then we can hope that Dr. Andrews agrees and Hightower’s injury is nothing severe. Many athletes in this sport know injury leads to lost minutes to play on the field, which means lost income. Hightower being on the sidelines for today’s game and possibly into next week depending on the severity of the injury, is a blow to this team’s defense no matter what is said.

And among the current inactives list for the New England Patriots heading into this game:

• LB Don’ta Hightower (Defensive Team Captain)
• WR Danny Amendola
• OT Cole Croston
• ST Nate Ebner
• ST Matthew Slater (Special Teams Captain)
• DT Vincent Valentine
• OT LaAdrian Waddle

The New Orleans Saints inactives list is also available:

• LB Stephone Anthony
• OT Terron Armstead
• WR Austin Carr
• CB Ken Crawley
• QB Taysom Hill
• DE Al-Quadin Muhammad
• OT Zach Strief (Offensive Team Captain)

It’s amazing how long ago it feels when we’re all talking about Tom Brady vs Peyton Manning being the top two Quarterbacks in the NFL. Now with Peyton happily enjoying his life in retirement, it seems unavoidable that Brady will get brought up in the retirement category as well. Same could be said of Saints QB, Drew Brees who Brady has shared much history with. In fact, Brady and Brees have known each other before either entered the NFL.

Brees after high school only received two scholarships, despite being a stellar high school QB for Westlake High. He wanted to originally be recruited by The Texas Longhorns or Texas A&M ‘Aggies’ but sadly neither gave Brees a recommendation. Instead, Bress found himself stuck between either Purdue University or University of Kentucky. He ultimately, chose to go with Purdue where he would play for from 1997-2000.

Near this time, a young Tom Brady was struggling with gaining recognition outside of the state of California. In terms of where he would be rated by today, he was a 4-star recruit out of Junípero Serra High School. Brady was a multi-sport prospect, as he was considered by many to be a better baseball player than he was a football player. Despite Brady being offered high money by the Montreal Expos in 1995, Brady was more passionate about football and when he was given an opportunity, he took it. Brady narrowed his list of options for college to only five: Cal-Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Michigan, and Illinois; Michigan was the one that won out. Brady was sadly hardly given any time to start, as he was 7th on the depth chart by the time he arrived at the University of Michigan in 1995.

While both Brady and Brees moved onto the NFL, they were both in the Big Ten (the division that both Purdue and Michigan played in at the time). It was not known when exactly Brady and Brees came to know each other, but the schedule and time of their first meeting would point to 1999, where the Purdue Boilmakers faced The Michigan Wolverines in Week 5 of the 1999 season. Brady was the starting QB ultimately having won the starting job over Drew Henson. Brady and the Wolverine beat Brees and the Boilmakers 38-12. It would be only one of many meetings that two would have down the road.

This same game was talked about between the two QBs last year during the Week 1 of the 2016 preseason when both teams were having joint practices. That day was rain-soaked and both QBs remember the first time they played against each other. According to Brees:

“So Tom actually threw it out there. He said, ‘Hey, remember that game, Michigan-Purdue in the Big House?’ He said, ‘This is just like it.’

Shows that even after so many years pass, people remember the small details that others sometimes forget. Brady and Brees have known each other only during briefly but their respect for each other is real. Considering what either have accomplished is all that needs to be said (Brady will go down as the greatest of all time and Brees will likely have all the passing records under his name when all is said and done). In fact, Brees went as far to say this:

“I’ve got a ton of respect for Tom and what he’s accomplished. I don’t know if there is a guy in this game that has been more disciplined, more mentally tough and is just so consistent, so, so consistent. A lot to be respected. I have a ton of respect for him, his approach and his accomplishments.”

Both Brady and Brees combined have the most passing yards and passing touchdowns out of any QB currently in the league. With Brady already at 40 and Brees slowly getting there as well, both of them will be by far the oldest on their respective rosters. The Patriots and Saints will be facing off on Sunday at 1:00 PM at the Mercedes-Benz Super dome in New Orleans, Louisiana. this will be the first time they have faced each other since 2013. The game will be broadcast on CBS and will be announced with new CBS commentator Tony Romo (former QB of the Dallas Cowboys). This will be quite the sight to see that much is certain as both teams start the season 0-1, and only one of them is walking away a winner.

Is Tom Brady’s Head Still In the Game?

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has taken some huge hits over the years. You don’t become a star quarterback in the NFL without linebackers taking shots at you. By taking those shots it is highly thinkable that you will have a concussion, if not multiple concussions.

Tom Brady is no exception and the New England Patriot quarterback will be on “CBS Sunday Morning” to talk about it.

Last summer, Brady’s wife, Gisele Bundchen, spoke on “CBS This Morning”, stating:

“He had a concussion last year,”. “He has concussions pretty much every … I mean, we don’t talk about it. He does have concussions. I don’t really think it’s a healthy thing for a body to go through that kind of aggressive all the time. That could not be healthy for you.”

Later on, when Brady was asked about his wife’s remarks, he said:
“I don’t want to get into things that happened in my past, certainly my medical history and so forth. I really don’t think that’s anybody’s business, what happened last year. I’m focused on this year and improvement and working on things I need to get better at.”
During the interview that will air on “CBS Sunday Morning” on Sunday (9 a.m. ET), Brady said of concussions,

“I don’t worry about them, no. I mean, I’m not oblivious to them. I understand the risks that come with the physical nature of our game.”

When Brady was asked about the impact that studies on concussions might have on the NFL, Brady said,
“I don’t know what the future is going to look like, and I’m not going to pretend to predict it. I’m going to do everything I can to take care of my body in advance of the hits that I’m going to take on Sunday.”

Asked by O’Donnell if there was any chance 2017 could be his last season, Brady said, “No. No.”
He later added, “I do want to go out on my terms. I do want to go out playing my best.”

Brady was never officially documented with a concussion in 2016.