Gaspar: Passing Thoughts

[MoLewisrocks]

Some interesting observations on The Franchise and his readiness on the eve of his post injury season...

“It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through mentally and physically,’’ said Green, now an NFL analyst for Fox. “I can relate.’’

Green has watched Brady this preseason and thinks the iconic QB is largely over the mental hurdle.

“He seems fine. He has been hit, had guys around his feet, guys near him. Sometimes it’s like you can see a shadow. You don’t see any of that with Tom,’’ said Green.

Nobody knows Brady’s mechanics better than Tom Martinez, the San Francisco-area quarterback guru who has worked with Brady since he was 13 years old. Martinez has watched his prized pupil and said Brady “looks further along than I thought he’d be.’’

Martinez said that Brady felt 2008 could have been his finest season. If he is really back to normal, it could be 2009.

“He told me before last year that he finally, finally felt like nobody could do anything to him he hadn’t seen, and he was completely comfortable mechanically and running the offense,’’ said Martinez. “He felt last year he was going to have an unbelievable year and then he got hurt. To me all of those things are still in place.’’

Former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer compared Brady’s comeback with Peyton Manning’s last season.

Coming off surgery to remove an infected bursa sac in his left knee, Manning looked out of synch in the early going - over the first seven games, Manning tossed 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and the Colts were 3-4.

Manning ended up the league MVP.

“I know something will happen early in the season with Tommy and we will say, ‘Oh, he never would miss that throw. This is Tom Brady,’ ’’ said Dilfer. “I say there will be some signs of it early, two or three plays a game that don’t look quite right, but then two and one and then none.’’

Passing thoughts - The Boston Globe