A few days before the AFC Championship Game on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the New England Patriots saw Tom Brady suffer a right-hand injury in practice on Wednesday.
There should be some more easiness with the situation with an X-ray revealing no structural damage to his hand, according to Karen Guregian of The Boston Herald.
Tom Brady jammed his throwing hand at practice after accidentally being run into, according to a source. X-rays showed no structural damage.
— Karen Guregian (@kguregian) January 17, 2018
The Patriots avoided a major bullet as the loss of Brady could put them at a severe disadvantage against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who possess arguably the best defense in the league. It would have thrust backup Brian Hoyer into action up against the Jaguars dynamic pass rush that ranked second in the league with 55 sacks and their formidable secondary led by their cornerbacks Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye.
Brady's health will be something monitored closely over the next few days leading up to the AFC Championship game. The 40-year-old is coming off a strong outing in the divisional round against the Tennessee Titans where he had 337 passing yards with three touchdowns in the convincing 35-14 win.
The hand injury could lead to the Patriots leaning a little more on the running game against the Jaguars. This could especially be the case with Jacksonville ranking 21st against the run this past season giving up 116.3 rushing yards per game.
What also should be noted as that running backs Rex Burkhead and Mike Gillislee were only able to practice on a limited basis on Wednesday. It had been reported earlier in the week that the duo is expected to play on Sunday despite being limited by their respective knee injuries.
If they are unable to give it a go, the Patriots could look to Dion Lewis and James White to carry the load in the running and passing game in similar fashion to what they did against the Titans. Ultimately, it's a fluid situation that should receive clarity by Friday.
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