FOXBORO – It wasn’t the smoothest performance we’ve seen from Tom Brady, but Sunday’s performance was more than good enough in the Patriots win over the New York Jets. Considering with what the quarterback was dealing with, the game was another reminder of how gutsy this 41-year-old has been throughout his career.

Brady popped up on the injury report last week with a knee injury on Wednesday. By Friday, he was also dealing with an illness and missed the [...]

FOXBORO – It wasn’t the smoothest performance we’ve seen from Tom Brady, but Sunday’s performance was more than good enough in the Patriots win over the New York Jets. Considering with what the quarterback was dealing with, the game was another reminder of how gutsy this 41-year-old has been throughout his career.

Brady popped up on the injury report last week with a knee injury on Wednesday. By Friday, he was also dealing with an illness and missed the Patriots final practice of the week. The Patriots needed a heavy dose of the run game to move the play in MetLife Stadium, but Brady made several nice throws in this 27-13 road win.

“I prefer to be healthy and practicing all the time.  It just wasn’t the case,” Brady said. “You know, just get back at it right now and just to feel as good as I can for next week.”

Brady finished 20-of-31 of 283 yards and two touchdowns. His 115.4 quarterback rating was the highest it's been all season. Of course, there were times where the Patriots offensive pace was slowed and they struggled in the red zone. The Patriots entered the end of the third quarter tied 13-13. The offense finally broke late as Brady hit Julian Edelman for a 21-yard touchdown and Sony Michel scored a fourth-quarter touchdown to put the game away.

By the time Sunday’s game was over, Brady’s voice sounded like a person that was still battling an illness. To top it off, he suffered a minor thumb injury during the first half. Add in the fact that his left knee was in a brace, his right knee was bruised, and you start to see why Brady’s performance was up and down.

The thumb injury was a cause for concern, but Brady told WEEI’s Mut & Callahan Show on Monday, it wasn’t a big deal

"It's good, nothing at all. I am feeling good,” Brady said.