Brady done for year
Tom Brady will miss the rest of the season with a left knee injury that needs surgery, leaving the New England Patriots without one of the game’s great quarterbacks and severely damaging their hopes of a return trip to the Super Bowl.
The 2007 NFL Most Valuable Player will be placed on injured reserve, the Patriots said Monday, one day after Brady’s knee collapsed under him when he was hit by Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard in the first quarter of a 17-10 victory over Kansas City.
“As a team we all just have to do our jobs. That really doesn’t change,” New England coach Bill Belichick said. “He played one position, he played it very well. We have somebody else playing that position now.”
Matt Cassel, who guided New England to its 20th consecutive regular-season victory after Brady was hurt, will start Sunday at the New York Jets. It will be the first meaningful start for Cassel since high school.
“You hate to see anyone go down,” Belichick said. “Nobody has worked harder and done more for this team than Tom has. So it’s a tough setback for him.”
The Patriots have just two quarterbacks on the roster: Cassel and rookie Kevin O’Connell. But Belichick denied media reports that out-of-work quarterbacks Chris Simms and Tim Rattay were headed to Foxborough to audition.
Pollard, who apologized to Brady immediately after the play, said Monday that it was an accident and prayed for Brady’s speedy recovery.
“I can’t change what happened,” he said. “When I heard him scream, I knew it was serious.”
Young’s MRI rescheduled
An MRI on Titans quarterback Vince Young’s sprained left knee was rescheduled for today.
Coach Jeff Fisher said if the injury is a third-degree MCL sprain, Young could be out a couple weeks.
If Young can’t play Sunday at Cincinnati, Kerry Collins is the only other quarterback on the roster. Ingle Martin is on the practice squad, and Fisher said no one had been contacted about visiting the team.
Fisher said promoting Martin, a sixth-round pick by Green Bay in 2006, made the most sense because he knows the offense.
Chiefs’ Croyle will sit
Brodie Croyle has a separated shoulder and Damon Huard will start at quarterback this week for Kansas City against Oakland.
“He’s not done for the year,” Chiefs coach Herman Edwards said. “It’s week to week.”
This leaves Huard and Tyler Thigpen at quarterback.
Jags’ line gets thinner
The Jacksonville Jaguars, already thin along the offensive line after the shooting of backup tackle Richard Collier, lost two starters in their opening loss at Tennessee.
Guard Vince Manuwai is out for the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, and guard Maurice Williams could be sidelined at least two months after rupturing his right biceps.
Jacksonville already was playing without starting center Brad Meester, who injured his right biceps early in the preseason and could miss at least the first four weeks.