Tom Brady had one of his worst seasons in a long time in 2019, and his lack of supporting cast and age may have had a lot to do with that. However, the New England Patriots quarterback also seemed to be more banged up than he has been in past years.
Brady battled an elbow injury late in the season that he appeared to aggravate in a Week 14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, though he consistently downplayed it. According to Michael Giardi of NFL Network, Brady also hurt his foot at some point in December.
In addition to the tennis elbow that bothered Tom Brady later in the season, sources telling me Brady also dealt with a foot injury suffered at some point in December. #Patriots
— Michael Giardi (@MikeGiardi) January 6, 2020
Like most other great players, Brady has never been one to make excuses for himself. He’ll likely say he was simply dealing with bumps and bruises like everyone else late in the NFL season, but it seemed like more than that this time.
As Ryan Hannable of WEEI notes, Brady experimented with different cleats down the stretch and was seen running sprints at one point on the sideline during New England’s Week 17 loss to the Miami Dolphins. At the very least, it appeared he had some sort of lower body ailment that was causing him discomfort.
Even with a healthy Brady, the Patriots probably did not have enough to make a deep playoff run. However, he is not the only key player on the team that was injured late in the year, and that certainly did not help.
