Tom Brady is back. Last seen taking a snap in NFL competition Sept. 7 of last year, he played four series against the Eagles last night, which is four series more than he did in last year’s exhibition season, when he sat out the whole thing in a carryover from the foot injury that hampered him in Super Bowl XLII.
There was a lot more good than bad. He threw two touchdown passes, both to Baker, an ex-Jet. He threw a bad interception. He sneaked for a first down. He looked calm and confident. He was back doing what he loves, and the Patriots were better off for it.
“There’s no place I’d rather be,’’ he said. “This is the place where I have the most fun.’’
This promises to be far from a humdrum exhibition season for the Patriots, because the truth is that Brady is not the only new player of note. The Patriots have undergone an interesting roster shake-up at some positions, most notably in the secondary, where the search to replace Asante Samuel continues; at running back, where Taylor has been imported as an adjunct to the injury-plagued Laurence Maroney (who has basically been a colossal tease); and at tight end, where Baker has arrived to replace, or at least push, Benjamin Watson, who enters his sixth season as an “athletic’’ partial achiever.
Baker paid an early dividend, catching a 4-yard touchdown pass from Brady on the team’s second possession, and a 9-yard TD pass on the fourth. It seems like a long time since a tight end was a major part of the Patriots’ offense, doesn’t it?
“Obviously, I was pretty excited,’’ Baker said. “I didn’t get to the end zone last year.’’
He got there twice in the first half last night, and the quarterback said the new guy can take all the credit he wants. “He made a couple of challenging reads,’’ Brady declared.
