Tom Brady: 'I feel better now at 39 than I did when I was 29'
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady says he feels better at 39 years of age than he did 10 years ago.
Brady played in his first game since his four-game Deflategate suspension on Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, throwing for 406 yards with three touchdowns in a 33–13 victory.
"I know I've talked at length about how I've felt over the years and I feel better now at 39 than I did when I was 29—and I feel like it's due to a lot of things," Brady said on WEEI radio. "I feel like I'm in a good routine and if I play a game like I did [Sunday], I feel like by Wednesday practice, you know, I'm geared up to go."
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Brady led New England to touchdowns the first three times they had the ball on Sunday. He says he took hits during his four weeks away from the team in preparation of hits he would take during the real games.
"I was getting hit,” he said. “It wasn’t just come let me stand there and decleat me. I think it was more just someone there with pads and a bag and trying to simulate some of the ways what was going to happen like yesterday. Your body needs to get used it it. Part of my job is taking a hit, so it’s not like you can not take a hit for four weeks, especially when you see your teammates out there taking hits."
Brady and the Patriots (4–1) next take on the Cincinnati Bengals (2–3) on Sunday.
– Scooby Axson
