TAMPA, Fla.— Tom Brady says his heavily wrapped throwing hand is sore but he expects to play when the Buccaneers visit the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night.
Brady injured his right hand in the first half of Tampa Bay’s 45-17 win over Miami on Sunday. He finished off his first career 400-yard, five-TD performance with a pair of scoring passes in the fourth quarter.
“It’s a little sore but I expected it to be,” Brady said Tuesday. “We signed up for a contact sport. You get different bumps and bruises throughout the year and we’ll just deal with it the best we can. This bump and bruise happens to be on my hand. Just trying to be preventive and precautious, be smart. It’s less than 48 hours since it happened so it’s not like it’s had five days, but again I feel confident I’ll be able to go out there and do what I need to do.”
The defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers (4-1) are playing their third road game and fourth overall in 19 days. The 44-year-old Brady leads the NFL with 1,767 yards passing and is second with 15 TDs.
“If it was my left hand, I wouldn’t think two seconds about it,” Brady said. “The fact that it’s your throwing hand, there aren’t many things that are that important to a quarterback other than your right shoulder or your right elbow. Anytime you get banged on one of those, it could be an issue, but I think there is no serious injury at all. It’s more discomfort, but I think it’ll be gone in about a day or two.”
BROWNS: The Browns have placed versatile offensive lineman Chris Hubbard, safety M.J. Stewart and fullback Andy Janovich on injured reserve.
Stewart and Janovich sustained hamstring injuries against the Chargers and Hubbard recently underwent season-ending surgery on his triceps.
Per NFL rules, Janovich and Stewart must sit out at least three games.
EUROPE: The NFL selected the cities Dusseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich to enter a final bidding stage to host a regular-season game in Germany.
Next season is the target for Germany to host its first game, though it could also debut in 2023 because of potential scheduling conflicts with soccer’s World Cup, which begins next November in Qatar.
The decisions on a German city and date for a game are expected to be announced at the Super Bowl in February. A host city recommendation must be approved by NFL team owners.
LIONS: Standout center Frank Ragnow has a season-ending toe injury that requires surgery, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.
Ragnow was hurt earlier this month at Chicago after he snapped the ball off quarterback Jared Goff, who was approaching the line to communicate with linemen, and into the hands of Bears defensive lineman Bilal Nichols.
Ragnow went on injured reserve last week and center Evan Brown made the first start of his three-year, four-team NFL career in Sunday’s loss at Minnesota.
RAVENS: Practice squad tackle Adrian Ealy was suspended six games for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances, according to the league.
He is eligible to return after the team’s Week 11 game at Chicago.
Ealy signed with the Ravens as an undrafted rookie in May. He has not appeared in a game this season.
TITANS: The Tennessee Titans have placed three-time Pro Bowl punter Brett Kern on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.
The Titans (3-2) already had an outbreak in August that started with Coach Mike Vrabel testing positive after a preseason game in Tampa Bay. .
Kern has missed the last two games with an injured right groin muscle. Johnny Townsend has replaced him in those games.
CARDINALS: Linebacker Chandler Jones has been put on NFL’s reserve/COVID-19 list because of a positive test, according to a person with knowledge of the result.
The development means Jones could miss the Cardinals’ upcoming game on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns. The 31-year-old Jones is one of the league’s elite pass rushers and was the NFC Defensive Player of the Week after a five-sack performance in the season opener against the Tennessee Titans.
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