Brady may miss Eagles game

QB not sure his injured foot will be ready in time

TAMPA - Tom Brady said yesterday he's not certain whether he'll be sufficiently recovered from a right foot injury to participate in the Patriots' third exhibition game, which is Friday at home against the Philadelphia Eagles.

"I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm trying to get treatment this week and I'm feeling better every day," Brady said on radio station WEEI. "It's going to end up being up to coach [Bill Belichick] and what he wants to do, but I think he's been coaching long enough to understand that the first game in September is what's going to be important for us."

Brady has yet to play this preseason and he didn't even make the trip with the team to Tampa for Sunday night's 27-10 loss.

There was no media availability yesterday, but Brady made his contractually scheduled appearance on WEEI, part of the station's deal with the team, and revealed that the injury is not the same right ankle malady that bothered him leading up to last February's Super Bowl.

"No, it's not the same injury," said Brady. "It's entirely different than the Super Bowl, same side of the body, same leg, but not the same injury."

Brady also said the injury had nothing to do with the Aug. 2 practice session during which he came up hobbling and reached for his left leg after throwing a pass to Jabar Gaffney. The reigning league Most Valuable Player revealed that he suffered a left shin injury that day, when running back Sammy Morris inadvertently kicked him.

The return of No. 12 can't come soon enough for the Patriots offense, which has scored just two touchdowns in two games without him.

"You know the preseason is important, but I think the idea is to be ready for when the regular season kicks off," said Brady. "If I can be out there, then I'll be out there, but it remains to be seen. We spent some time this weekend getting treatment on my foot and hoping that it responds quickly, like it usually does."

Brady also offered some support for much-maligned understudy Matt Cassel, who had another subpar outing Sunday, passing for 57 yards and leading the Patriots to just a field goal in six possessions.

"Watching Matt and hearing the criticism on TV, I don't even know where that was coming from," Brady said. "That was so far from what I was watching.

"The quarterback, there is a lot of responsibility out there. I thought Matt was making good decisions. He was really decisive with his throws. Was every throw perfect? No, but that doesn't happen so often anyway.

"I see Matt in practice every day and the improvement he makes. I love what I see from Matt. I have a lot of confidence in Matt."

Prognosis positive

The Patriots appear to have dodged a bullet with the leg injury to safety Brandon Meriweather.

A league source said Meriweather should be 100 percent by the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs Sept. 7. However, he could be done playing for the preseason. After the Patriots face the Eagles, they conclude the preseason schedule with a road game against the New York Giants Aug. 28.

The second-year safety was injured on the initial drive of Friday's game, limping off following a 2-yard run by Warrick Dunn. It appeared that Meriweather was hurt on the previous play, when he tackled Dunn at the conclusion of a 7-yard rush and had defensive end Richard Seymour land on top of him.

Drilling it

As important as the distance on Stephen Gostkowski's 53-yard field goal at the end of the first half was the situational execution.

The Patriots end most practices with two-minute drills that force Gostkowski and the field goal team to race onto the field either during a timeout or without the benefit of one. Sunday night, Gostkowski came onto the field following a timeout with two seconds left in the half and drilled the 53-yarder.

"It's great because it feels almost the same in practice as it does in a game," said Gostkowski. "There is just as much pressure put on us in practice, and Coach always preaches that perfect practice makes perfect game execution. I try to do it in practice, and when it carries over to the game, it's rewarding because you're working all week to have success in a game.

"Any time you have a good week of practice and it shows in a game, you know why you worked that hard each week to get better, and it just makes you want to go out and do better next week."

After Belichick declined to let Gostkowski attempt a 49-yard field goal in Super Bowl XLII - his longest attempt of the season to that point was 48, which he missed, and his long make was 45 - Gostkowski has been perfect this preseason. In addition to the 53-yarder, he's also connected from 36, 40, and 44 yards.

The joy of sacks

One bright spot in the loss to Tampa Bay was the play of rookie linebackers Shawn Crable and Vince Redd, each of whom came up with a sack. Crable, who had an interception in the preseason opener against Baltimore, chased down Chris Simms from behind and strip-sacked him on the last play of the third quarter. The fumble was recovered by Buccaneers running back Clifton Smith. In the fourth quarter, Redd speed-rushed around Buccaneers reserve left tackle Anthony Davis and brought down quarterback Josh Johnson for a 13-yard loss on a third-down play, forcing a punt . . . Quarterback Matt Gutierrez didn't play against the Buccaneers, and Brady said in his radio appearance that Gutierrez has a bruised shoulder.

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com.