The New England Patriots are heading into the 2013 season with some very interesting questions at some key positions, but one place they appear set is at quarterback with Tom Brady, who after dealing with a knee scare in practice appears fine and should play on Friday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Brady had a scare in practice after left tackle Nate Solder was pushed and knocked into the quarterback's knee, something that happened once before but with much worse results. Brady stayed on the ground for a moment holding his knee and later he was able to walk off on his own and the following day he returned to practice with the team. Solder said it was just part of the game and the Patriots were thrilled it wasn't series.
Brady did not talk to reporters and now it seems that all is fine with the knee, as he plans on playing against the Buccaneers at home in the second preseason game after defeating the Eagles. Brady had a similar play happen to him back in 2008 when Bernard Pollard of the Chiefs went into his knee and ended his season, the only time he has missed a full amount of games in his career. The team has one player they can't replace and that's Brady. The team can make up for losing Aaron Hernandez and Wes Welker in the offense, but one thing they cannot account for is Brady.
The Patriots opened the preseason with a win over the Eagles before playing the Buccaneers on Friday and they will also play the Lions and the Giants in a rematch of the Super Bowl from two years ago. The Pats open the season with an AFC East division slate of games against the Buffalo Bills on the road before Tim Tebow gets the chance to play his old team in the Jets in the opening home game. The third game will be a rematch of the second preseason game with the Buccaneers coming to town and that game will be on Fox.
The following week will be the Sunday night game against the Atlanta Falcons on the road before the team travels to play the Bengals in Week 5. The team has the Saints at home the following week and that game will also be on Fox and after that the team will travel to New York to play the Jets before playing Miami the next week in another divisional game. The Steelers will comes next and then the team has a bye week and that leads into the only Monday night game of the season, which seems crazy, against the Carolina Panthers.
The team hosts Denver and Peyton Manning next before travelling to Houston and that game should be interesting, as the Patriots beat them twice last season. The team will finish up with a tough run against Cleveland and then road games against Miami and Baltimore before finishing in Week 17 against the team where it all started, getting a home game against the Buffalo Bills.
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Sunday, Sept. 8 -- at Bills (1 p.m.)
Thursday, Sept. 12 -- vs. Jets (8:25 p.m.)
Sunday, Sept. 22 -- vs. Buccaneers (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Sept. 29 -- at Falcons (8:30 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 6 -- at Bengals (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 13 -- vs. Saints (4:25 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 20 -- at Jets (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 27 -- vs. Dolphins (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 3 -- vs. Steelers (4:25 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 10 -- BYE
Monday, Nov. 18 -- at Panthers (8:40 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 24 -- vs. Broncos (8:30 p.m.)
Sunday, Dec. 1 -- at Texans (4:25 p.m.)
Sunday, Dec. 8 -- vs. Browns (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Dec. 15 -- at Dolphins (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Dec. 22 -- at Ravens (8:30 p.m.)
Sunday, Dec. 29 -- vs. Bills (1 p.m.)
Preseason schedule
Friday, Aug. 9 -- at Eagles (7:30 p.m.)
Friday, Aug. 16 -- vs. Buccaneers (Fox, national broadcast, 8 p.m.)
Thursday, Aug. 22 -- at Lions (7:30 p.m.)
Thursday, Aug. 29 -- vs. Giants (7:30 p.m.)
