The New England Patriots are trying to bounce back after two straight losses as the team prepares for the postseason. The biggest hit to the team in recent weeks has been injuries as their biggest stars continue to take hits on the field. With a week off to rest during the Wild Card games, the Patriots are trying to get everyone healthy in order to have the fullest roster they can for the postseason.
Tom Brady dodged a bullet. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the quarterback suffered an ankle sprain against the Miami Dolphins following a hit by Ndamukong Suh. The quarterback underwent an MRI to rule out any real issues and was deemed fine by the team's medical staff. Brady told reporters that he was merely sore and would be fine to play come the divisional round in two weeks. That is certainly good news for the Patriots considering how many big-named stars they have lost this season. The injury to Brady would all-but end the season.
"I've had plenty worse injuries than this one," Brady said, via WEEI Radio. "Suh is a big guy and he just came down on the back of me. Obviously, however big he is -- 300 pounds -- and he just kind of collapses on the back of your legs, there is going to be some residual damage to that. It's part of football."
The Patriots will not be missing Brady and they are hoping to not be missing Julian Edelman either. The wide receiver has returned to practice following a broken foot and many believed he was going to see game time in the Week 17 matchup against the Dolphins, but instead he did not make the trip. According to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, Edelman is expected to be back for the playoffs. The Patriots opted to hold him out for precaution reasons and the receiver should be ok to play. Brady hopes that Edelman is back in order to have his three top weapons on the field.
"He's been hugely critical to our success," Brady said, via CSNNE.com. "Hopefully he's ready to go. We'll see in a couple of weeks. I'm obviously hoping he's out there. I'm hoping everybody's out there healthy and feeling good and ready to go, try to do something that's pretty tough to do. By the time we're playing there'll only be only eight teams left. We're going to have to earn it. It's not going to be easy. It takes a lot of work to get to this point. It's going to take a lot more work to win the next game."
If the Patriots can have Edelman back all they would need to worry about is the run game. Steven Jackson, Brandon Bolden and James White have not been lighting it up these past few games, but with a week of practice to prepare, the Patriots are hopeful things improve.