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Tom Brady Injury: New England Patriots’ Quarterback Slices Thumb With Scissors, Misses Preseason Game

By Jason Fletcher
Published on: 06:00 PST, Aug 19, 2016

It doesn’t seem as if 2016 has been the best year of Tom Brady’s life. First, Brady and the New England Patriots were upended by the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game back in January. Next, Tom lost the appeal of his four-game suspension for “DeflateGate” and will be forced to sit out the first four games of the 2016 NFL Season. And now, Brady nearly lost his thumb in an accident with scissors prior to Friday night’s game against the Chicago Bears.

According to Comcast SportsNet New England, Brady was using the pair of scissors to try and pry something from the bottom of his cleat when the accident happened. It’s unclear which of Tom’s thumbs was sliced and whether or not the injury required stitches. There’s also no word on how long the injury will sideline Brady.

Tom Brady’s agent spoke to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Friday and told him that “[a]n accident occurred and Tom will be OK in time.”

Brady’s absence sent a little bit of panic through Gillette on Thursday night as Bill Belichick had announced earlier in the day that Tom Brady would indeed be playing against the Bears. You can imagine the angst of Patriots fans when Jimmy Garoppolo came out to take the opening snaps for the offense instead of Brady.

“I made the decision for him not to play,” Belichick told reporters. “That’s part of football. Things happen that are unexpected, and (Garoppolo) has been prepared for that since the day he got here. Sometimes things happen, things change, and you have to adjust to them. On offense, the quarterbacks refer to that as an audible.”

The good news for Patriots fans is that Garoppolo played pretty well for the second straight week. During a 34-22 victory over the New Orleans Saints in Week 1 of the preseason, Garoppolo completed 11 of 18 passes for 168 yards with zero touchdowns or interceptions. Against the Bears, he upped those numbers to 16 of 21 for 181 yards and a 16-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Derby in the second quarter.

While it’s likely that the fans in attendance would’ve liked to have seen Tom Brady take the field for at least a series or two against the Bears, it may be a blessing in disguise that the injury happened. Right now, Garoppolo needs all of the game reps he can get as he prepares to start the first four games of the season. Had Tom played last night, it would’ve done nothing but take snaps away from Jimmy.

Brady has attempted 7,792 passes in 225 regular season games and 1,183 passes in 31 postseason games, while Garoppolo has attempted 31 passes in 11 career games. It would seem as if it would work out better for the Patriots if Jimmy got as much work as possible this preseason rather than trying to get Brady in for a couple of snaps considering he’s going to miss four weeks to begin the season.

The Patriots open the season with a murderer’s row type of schedule, with a road game against the Arizona Cardinals followed by home games against the Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans, and Buffalo Bills. New England needs Garoppolo to be in top form to begin the year to avoid digging themselves too deep of a hole for Brady to dig out of once he returns.

It may not sound right, but Tom Brady’s inability to operate scissors properly may be a factor in helping to save the New England Patriots’ season.

[Photo via Christian Petersen/Getty Images]

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tom brady nfl New England Patriots Chicago Bears Jimmy Garoppolo
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