It’s a thumbs up for Tom Brady starting for the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game, which means fantasy football players should start him.
You’ve got to hand it to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots for their efforts in keeping the condition of Brady’s thumb injury (and trying to build mystery around his status for Sunday’s game) under wraps. However, despite still being listed as “questionable”, Tom Brady will play, and start, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, per ESPN.
This isn’t a surprise because after all, this is Tom Brady that we’re talking about. The five-time Super Bowl champion and MVP-candidate realizes that he’s in a race against time and is determined to win it. And he’s not planning on missing any time time while doing so.
Although full details of his injury have not been released to the public, the majority of the reports seem to indicate that Tom Brady sustained a laceration to his thumb, which required stitches. If this is true, then fantasy football owners (and Patriots fans) can breathe a huge sigh of relief, as that shouldn’t effect his throwing (even though the injury occurred on his throwing hand) too greatly.
However, even if Brady suffered a more serious injury such as a torn ligament, he’s played at an elite level with an injured and swollen throwing hand before. In 2014, Brady played with ligament damage and racked up 4,343 yards passing, 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, earning Pro Bowl honors.
Next: 2018 NFL Mock Draft: Conference Championship edition
Brady has been listed as injured multiple times leading up to games, including the week of the divisional playoffs last year, and subsequently, played through adversity. And then some; winning his fifth championship win. With the New England Patriots handing the starting job to him, fantasy football owners should follow their lead and start Brady this week.