Patriots QB Tom Brady has ankle sprain, will be ready for playoffs

If the outcome of the Patriots’ regular season finale wasn’t any indication, neither worked in the 20-10 loss to the Dolphins. In fact, the last six weeks have not been kind to the Patriots, as the team has lost four of its last six games after starting the season 10-0. The NFC Divisional game Jan. 16 is 8:15 p.m. On Jan. 17, the NFC Divisional game is at 1:05 p.m. on FOX and the AFC Divisional game is at 4:40 p.m. on CBS. A first-round bye and a divisional playoff game at home still put the Patriots in a decent position for a championship run, but the road to the Super Bowl now goes through Denver, and that’s never an easy road to travel.

In the Patriots’ postgame press conference, the full effect of Brady’s injury was evident as the camera caught him hobbling down the stairs of the podium when heading back to the locker room.

Tom Brady reportedly underwent an MRI Monday an ankle injury he suffered during Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins.

Brady said after the game that he felt, “pretty sore, but I’ll be alright”. The one notable player hurt on Sunday was Tom Brady, who had Miami’s Ndamukong Suh land on the back of his ankle during the contest. Not ideal, that’s for sure, but certainly better than the alternative I imagined when I first saw Suh roll into Brady’s legs. “I’m very confident I know how to deal with injuries and I’ll be doing everything I can to be out there”. I believe that whole-heartedly.

In fact, wide receivers Brandon LaFell and Keshawn Martin were streaking down the field on Brady’s second sack of the game. “We have to go out there and execute as an offense”.

“I didn’t see the replay, so I’m going to be anxious to see it”. It’s a process that Belichick is quite familiar with over the years having seen the likes of Charlie Weis, Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini, McDaniels and Bill O’Brien go through the interview process and land head jobs in either the National Football League or college. “And then we’ll talk about what we feel is the best way to use our time, most productive way to use it as a staff and as our team, whether it be individual players or different units, but how to get the most out of the time that we have available”.

“We’ll find out where we are in a couple weeks”.

Asked whether consideration was given to pulling Brady, Belichick said, “The seeding was still in doubt and we’re trying to play good football”. Especially if third-and-long was so rife with peril the team was handing off rather than asking the offensive line to protect?

“It doesn’t really matter”, the coach said.

“We didn’t do enough things well enough to win”, he said. In a season filled with bummer injuries we just narrowly avoided saving the worst for last. New England’s running game gained only 2.6 yards per rush on 27 attempts. Steven Jackson had the only real production through the air early, with a 20-yard screen.

The New England Patriots might not want to rely too heavily on the deep ball once the playoffs begin. Brady achieved a career high in completions….

The Dolphins didn’t give Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who was sacked twice and hit often, much room to roam. He threw an accurate deep ball on more than one occasion.

With yesterday’s lifeless loss to the lowly Miami Dolphins, the Patriots completed their six week quest to throw away home field advantage in the playoffs. Brady should have come out after getting banged up.

-PASS DEFENSE: D. This group had more than its share of issues the last couple weeks.