TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady said Thursday that the ring finger of his throwing hand is fine, although his demeanor in practice indicated that an injury is causing him discomfort.
“Great. I feel great,” Brady said when asked about his finger, with a hint of sarcasm that drew some laughter from reporters. “It’s football season.”
Brady, who usually has Wednesdays off, was a full participant in that practice and went through his complete workload Thursday. But he was spotted during the portion of practice that was open to the media shaking his right hand multiple times, as if bothered by the injury.
He is not among the 12 players listed on the team’s injury report this week.
Brady said on his “Let’s Go!” podcast Monday that he injured his right ring finger against the New Orleans Saints last week but downplayed the severity.
“I banged it up pretty good, but it didn’t affect me at all in the game,” Brady said. “Just going to be sore throughout the week. But one of those bumps and bruises that comes along with playing. Different things — you get hit and you get kicked and you get kneed — all these things that come up. It’s demolition derby out there. It’s who can recover fast enough in order to put yourself in position to practice, prepare and then go play the next week. So lots of bumps and bruises to take care of over the season.”