And now there is a very real fear that he sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament - yes, the dreaded ACL - and has thrown his last pass of the 2008 season. Unless the Patriots choose to dabble in the free agent market for the likes of (hold your nose) Trent Dilfer, the new starting quarterback around here is Matt Cassel.
Brady had completed a 28-yard pass to Randy Moss, who wound up fumbling the ball. But those interested in the fortunes of the Patriots were not as concerned about the team's second such turnover of the first quarter as they were about the status of Brady, who limped off the field with what coach Bill Belichick confirmed was an injured left knee, not to be seen again.
"I was standing right there," said running back Sammy Morris, "and I couldn't help him up. It's a tough feeling, but it's part of the game."
It's part of the game.
It certainly is. Morris knows all about it. He sustained a sternum-clavicle separation in last season's sixth game and never played another down. He can empathize.
"You see the hurt on his face, and you feel the same hurt," Morris said.
The reigning league Most Valuable Player religiously had been placed (some say mischievously placed) on the weekly injury report by Belichick for more than two years with an unspecified right shoulder injury, and he had missed all four exhibition games because of an issue with his right foot. But what happened yesterday had nothing to do with a shoulder or a foot. It had to do with a blitzing Kansas City safety named Bernard Pollard being picked up by Morris and then, after being knocked to the ground, reaching out and grabbing Brady's lower left leg in an attempt to bring him down. Brady fell awkwardly, injuring his left knee.
Was it necessary for Pollard to do that? Most Patriots either didn't see the play or declined to express an opinion, but wide receiver Randy Moss was rather forthright.
"I don't really want to get into it," he said. And then he got into it.
