Player Who Injured Tom Brady's Hand Identified: Report

FOXBOROUGH, MA — NFL quarterbacks wear red non-contract jerseys in practice for a reason, yet that didn't stop Tom Brady from suffering the most-discussed hand injury in recent memory. Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reported that running back Rex Burkhead is the culprit who accidentally ran into Brady, helmet first, cutting Brady's throwing hand during Wednesday's practice.

The injury caused Brady to leave practice early Wednesday, miss practice Thursday, and have a limited session on Friday. During the last two days, Brady was seen in warmups wearing gloves on both of his hands. He wore those gloves again for his Friday press conference, where he refused to answer any questions about his hands or whether he'll play in the AFC Championship Game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Brady was listed as questionable for Sunday on the injury report. The good news is that the injury does not appear to be serious, with various reports claiming that Brady suffered no structural or ligament damage.

Brady had no glove when he came out for warmups prior to Sunday's game, only some black tape near the thumb on his throwing hand. He also didn't have any problems throwing the ball, picking up 290 yards and two touchdowns through the air.

Following the gmae, Brady was more open about what happened to his hand, confirming the reports from the past week.

"I certainly didn’t think – I thought out of all the plays, my season can’t end on a handoff in practice. We didn’t come this far to end on a handoff. It’s just one of those things. Yeah, so I came in the training room and just was looking at my hand and wasn’t quite sure what happened, and everyone did a great job kind of getting me ready and the training staff and the doctors and Alex [Guerrero]. It was a great team effort. Without that, I definitely wouldn’t be playing," Brady said.

Brady said he expects to have the stitches removed from his hand very soon.

Image Credits: AP Photo/Bill Sikes