The New England Patriots are playing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Friday night in Week 2 of the NFL preseason and after winning in Week 1 the Patriots have a number of concerns, including whether Tom Brady will play and for how long.
According to ESPN.com, Brady will play in the game despite dealing with a knee issue in practice this week, although he likely will not play long. The game will be broadcast nationally on FOX and will have the regular crew of play-by-play man Kenny Albert as well as analyst Daryl Johnston and the sideline reports from Tony Siragusa, who all watched practice on Thursday.
The Patriots will be on Fox twice this year, playing the Buccaneers at home in September and also in October against the New Orleans Saints. The NFC is with Fox so the Patriots do not get on that channel too often, but this year they will on two different occasions, as well as now. Brady had a scare in practice but the team said it wasn't anything serious and he likely will play a short amount in the preseason game.
The Patriots will have a number of players that likely will not play in the game based on how things went this week in practice, including tight end Daniel Fells, who is supposed to make an impact after losing Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski to injury. Fells, along with Jake Ballard and Zach Sudfeld are the top tight ends and Fells likely will be out on Friday.
Some other players include Marcus Cannon and Dan Connolly on the offensive line as well as cornerbacks Ras-I Dowling and Alfonzo Dennard, meaning that Kyle Arrington will start at corner in the game. Devin McCourty will also be out, as he has been in practice in non-contact capacity.
