Bill Belichick likely is loving this.
He’s watching and reading the rapid reactions to Tom Brady’s thumb injury.
Brady’s status listed as questionable Friday rocketed theories regarding backup Brian Hoyer leading the Pats into the Super Bowl and possibly a championship. According to several New England media outlets, Brady had four stitches around the thumb area.
Brady played it coy, wore gloves, and responded with Belichick-like, curt responses about the injury to the media. Let the press and public agonize and wonder.
Will Brady play or won’t he against Jacksonville Sunday? Can the Patriots win without him?
Now, the Jaguars wonder who they will face and how will be Patriots look on offense? If Brady plays, will he be 100 percent?
Welcome back to the Patriots’ Game.
You know when you expect them to run the ball all day, and they come out and throw for more than 400 yards or vice versa.
Their opponent never truly knows. Lure the opponent in like a spider.
Now they’re playing it with Brady.
Brady does have an injury, but look for him to play. New England isn’t an 8 ½-point favorite for nothing.
Somehow, Brady will get it done. Belichick and Brady always manage to draw up the perfect game plan against their opponent.
Just in case, Hoyer will be ready. He saw some time in their season finale and has been well prepped all week.
Jacksonville is regarded as one of the few teams that could put the clamps on Brady. Good pass rush, overall good defense to ground the Pats.
But they couldn’t close out the Steelers after jumping out to a commanding lead. They couldn’t put enough pressure on Ben Roethlisberger, who threw for five touchdowns, 469 yards and nearly won the game.
It a script we have seen too many times before. Just when it looks like the Patriots may be in trouble…they come out a record a blowout.
Maybe Brady won’t play and Blake Bortles will make Jaguars’ fans forget the $19 million he will be owed for next season.
Maybe not.
Instead, we’ll probably see some more mundane Brady and Belichick press conferences in the next two weeks.
The game continues.