Brady out for season

[555666]

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Reigning NFL MVP Tom Brady suffered a serious knee injury in the season opener that will end his 2008 campaign, reports NFL Network’s Adam Schefter.

Brady left Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs after being hit on the left leg. He has started 128 consecutive games, but went to the turf clutching his left knee midway through the first quarter when he was hit in the pocket by Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard. After being tended to on the field, he walked off, limping, between two trainers.

Meanwhile, free-agent quarterback Chris Simms is scheduled to arrive in New England Monday morning for a workout and a physical, Schefter reports. If all goes well, Simms could be a Patriot by the end of the day. Kansas City and Tennessee, each of whom had quarterbacks suffer significant injuries on Sunday, also have contacted Simms.

Brady, 31, went to the locker room and was not seen again on the sideline as backup Matt Cassel led the Patriots to a 17-10 victory. The two-time Super Bowl MVP was not available for comment after the game, and coach Bill Belichick said he had nothing to add to the in-game announcement that it was a knee injury.

Brady was 7-for-11 passing for 76 yards, completing a 26-yard pass to Randy Moss on the play in which he was injured. Moss fumbled the ball away when he was tackled; the Patriots forced Kansas City to punt, then Cassel came in for New England.

"Since I've been here and been around Tom, he's always popped back up," Cassel said. "I didn't know (how serious it was). I just buckled my chinstrap and the guys rallied around me. I felt their support."

Cassel took over at his 2 yard-line and, after two handoffs nearly netted the Chiefs a safety, completed his first pass to Moss for a 51-yard gain. Cassel, Brady's backup for the past three years, finished the 98-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Moss that gave New England a 7-0 lead.

"This is something I've been preparing for for a long time," said Cassel, who threw just 33 passes while backing up Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at Southern Cal. "It's not something I expected to come up on opening day."

A former fourth-stringer who was the 199th overall selection in the 2000 draft, Brady himself took over at quarterback when longtime starter Drew Bledsoe sustained a life-threatening chest injury in a 2001 game against the New York Jets. Brady led the Patriots to their first NFL title that year, another in 2003 and another in 2004.

In the process, Brady has become one of the league's biggest stars and a crossover cover boy who has met the Pope and the president, dated actresses and supermodels and rewrote one of the NFL's most coveted records.

Last year, while leading New England to a 16-0 regular season, Brady set a record with 50 touchdown passes and improved his overall record as a starter to 100-27 -- the best in the Super Bowl era. The Patriots blew a chance at an unprecedented 19-0 season and a fourth NFL title with a 17-14 loss in February's Super Bowl to the New York Giants.

Brady did not play in four exhibition games this summer -- all of them Patriots losses -- while trying to recover from a right foot injury.

"He's the face of the New England Patriots, and Tom being who he is it kind of hurts, to be honest with you," said Moss, who caught 23 of Brady's TD passes in 2007, also a record. "I know the show must go on. Hopefully Matt Cassel is ready to step in. I know the team is ready to embrace him and let him lead us."

Sucks to be the Pats right now. No 16-0 nor Super Bowl this year... ;-)

 

[.GR]

Guess its true? They could still win the division, but I see Buffalo ahead of them now.

 

[555666]

Why is it I see the same topic outside of the New England Patriots board? Thought this is where it should be...

 

[bballer13333]

Matt Cassel is the new Tom Brady!!!

 

[.GR]

33 pass attemps. In college. LOL

 

[555666]

Jets take lead of AFC East next week. ;-)

 

[Pugz]

NFL.com - The Patriots placed Tom Brady on the injured reserve. The move effectively ends Brady’s 2008 season, confirming what was widely reported on Sunday.

The Patriots released a statement saying Brady’s injury would require surgery, but didn’t confirm the specifics of the type of injury he suffered.

“That’s really about all we have at this point,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said in a Monday news conference. “Of course we feel badly for tom about the injury, you hate to see anyone go down. Nobody works harder than Tom. .. It’s a tough setback for him.

 

[yezzir]

Jets take lead of AFC East next week. ;-)

No question. But it's possible that Buffalo might win too.

 

[playmaker7]

Im callin it, MATT CASSEL WILL BE A BEAST

 

[bballer13333]

Im callin it, MATT CASSEL WILL BE A BEAST

And Id like to say ive said this long before you did.

 

[elcheato]

I would have to say the Patriots or Bills are the favorites, even without Brady the Patriots could very well be the best in the division.

Still not sold on the Jets either, they beat the Dolphins by 6 points, we'll see how they do against good teams.

 

[CameronCrazy06]

The Jets > The Bills

 

[Pugz]

The Jets > The Bills

Any team that had god is good.

 

[JoshHoward5]

Matt Cassel might be good, but there is no way he comes in and makes an impact right away. The last time this guy started was in High School.

Also, this news made my day.

 

[CurseReversed04]

Division will be either Jets or Patriots still. The Pats are still good enough to compete. Super Bowl, not thinking that will happen, but we could still win the division. Will be competing the the Jets all year.

 

[.GR]

Division will be either Jets or Patriots still. The Pats are still good enough to compete. Super Bowl, not thinking that will happen, but we could still win the division. Will be competing the the Jets all year.

The Bills are better than the Jets IMO.