FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- If there's anything wrong with Tom Brady's throwing shoulder, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick isn't saying.
Belichick said Saturday that Brady came out of Friday night's game after a crushing hit from Redskins defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth because it was time for the coaching staff to take a look at the backups. He lumped any problem with Brady's right shoulder into the category of normal "bumps and bruises" from a physical game.
"I'm saying that we made the decision to play other quarterbacks in the Washington game because we wanted them to play," Belichick said in a conference call with reporters.
"Tom had a desire to play, but we made a football decision to play other players because we needed to see them at that position and make an evaluation there. That's what I'm saying."
Brady completed 12 of 19 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns, hitting Randy Moss six times for 90 yards and both TDs as the Patriots beat the Redskins 27-24 on Stephen Gostkowski's last-minute field goal.
On Brady's last play, he was smashed to the turf by Haynesworth after throwing an incomplete third-down pass just before the first two-minute warning.
Brady was seen on the bench flexing and rotating his right arm, but when the other starters took the field for the first series of the third quarter, the two-time Super Bowl MVP was not among them. He then left the sideline and returned to the locker room.
The team announced that he had a sore right shoulder. Brady did not speak to reporters after the game.
Leftwich wins Bucs QB battle over McCown -- Tampa Bay's extended quarterback derby is over. Byron Leftwich will start the regular-season opener against the Dallas Cowboys.
Buccaneers coach Raheem Morris selected the seventh-year pro over Luke McCown, saying Leftwich held an edge going into training camp and retained it with steady -- if unspectacular -- play through three preseason games.
"I'm very excited. When I get home I'll probably scream and let all my emotions out," said Leftwich, who's with his third NFL club since being unceremoniously dumped as Jacksonville's starter two summers ago.
