By Will Brinson

The Patriots are in an interesting position on Sunday against Buffalo, as they still need to win (or have Baltimore and Pittsburgh lose, which is unlikely) to clinch homefield advantage throughout the playoffs, but they're dealing with an injury to quarterback Tom Brady that makes him a risky start against the Bills.

Which may explain why, according to our Patriots Rapid Reporter Greg Bedard, Bill Belichick was dodging questions about Brady's status for Sunday's game.

"If they're not out there, there is either another player ahead of him or we're not confident they can go out there [healthy]," Belichick said when asked about Brady's status. "It's as simple as that."

That is simple, especially considering the fact that we know Brian Hoyer, Brady's backup, is not as good as Tom Brady.

So if Brady doesn't play, then Brady's shoulder issue -- which we mentioned earlier in the week and which we brought up again when he appeared to be favoring it -- is much more problematic than we thought.

Of course, Brady was present in the portion of practice that the media got to see and Belichick's emphasized, once again, that New England is playing to win.

"Every game is important and there are important things in this game," he said per Bedard. "We’ll prepare for this game just like we have the last 15. That’s the best way I can put it."

So what Belichick is saying (by way of not saying it) is that Brady might not be healthy. And if he's not there, then Patriots fans can start getting worried.


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