Tom Brady listed as questionable for AFC Championship vs. Jaguars
By John Buhler
After missing practice earlier this week with an injured hand, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will be questionable for the AFC Championship.
The biggest news surrounding the New England Patriots heading into the 2017 AFC Championship is the health of 40-year-old starting quarterback Tom Brady. Brady injured his hand in practice this week, but was a limited participant on Friday after missing a day earlier in the week.
According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, “Tom Brady was a limited participant in practice [Friday] and is officially listed as questionable.” If Brady were unable to go on Sunday afternoon versus the No. 3 Jacksonville Jaguars, it would be the Brian Hoyer show in Foxborough.
#Patriots QB Tom Brady was a limited participant in practice today and is officially listed as questionable.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 19, 2018
New England is playing in its unprecedented seventh straight AFC Championship Game. The Patriots earned the No. 1 seed in the AFC this year. After throttling the No. 5 Tennessee Titans at home last week, the Patriots will face one of the most formidable defenses in recent years in #Sacksonville.
New England was a 9.5-point favorite at the start of the week. However, that has dropped to the Patriots laying 7.5 points at home to the visiting Jaguars, according to OddsShark. Keep in mind that Jacksonville was getting more than a touchdown in last week’s road win over the No. 2 Pittsburgh Steelers up in Heinz Field.
Yes, the discrepancy between quarterbacks if Brady should go on Sunday will be vast when compared to Jaguars starter Blake Bortles. However, the drop-off from Brady to Hoyer might give the visiting Jaguars the advantage at quarterback with Bortles, who is 2-0 in his career in the playoffs.
That being said, Brady is just questionable, meaning he is going to play barring something truly awful happening to his hand in the next two days. Brady is the most competitive guy in the NFL. There is no way that he’s not playing in this conference title bout. Brady respects that Jacksonville might very well be the best the Patriots will have played all year up to this point. Look for Brady to give it his all against this #Sacksonville defense.
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Kickoff from Gillette Stadium in Foxborough will be at 3:05 p.m. ET on Jan. 21. CBS will have the nationally televised AFC title bout. Jim Nantz and Tony Romo will be in the booth to call it for CBS.