Tom Brady has said that the New England Patriots were just "trying to be smart" by taking him out of a practice session with a knee injury last week.
The quarterback reportedly suffered a mild sprain after tangling with Nate Solder during a joint practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Wednesday, returning to the field less than 24 hours later wearing a knee brace.
The 36-year-old told Boston radio station WEEI: "We were just trying to be smart. I wouldn't say frightened, you're just wondering what happened, because I didn't obviously see anything.
"You just feel something and react and I went back in for really to finish the period out that we had going and then just talked to Coach [Bill] Belichick and our trainer and we figured we'd try to be safe.
"If that was a Wednesday or Thursday practice during the regular season, you would probably never hear about it. But it's obviously the nature of Twitter and all that social media stuff."
Brady was able to play in the Patriots pre-season win over the Buccaneers on Friday, completing 11 of his 12 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown.
Sian Cowper
