Confirmed: Tom Brady won't play tonight

Boston Herald:

Quarterback Tom Brady [stats] is among a number of Patriots [team stats] starters who will not play tonight against the Eagles, according to a source.

The team is resting some of its high-profile healthy players due to this week’s intense schedule. They travel to Tampa tomorrow before conducting two joint practices with the Buccaneers and play the Bucs in a preseason game Friday.

There might have been an indication this was coming when Brady and a few key starters ran through limited reps in practice.

I outlined why this would be a good idea, here
. If you're upset about this, point your anger somewhere else other than the team.

The NFL's preseason scheduling has been just plain awful. The Eagles are going to play their starters for most of the game tonight, but when they play the Browns next Thursday they are going to do the same thing.

That's what happens when the NFL has you play three games in 10 days. Especially with roster cuts looming, the Patriots and any other team can't afford to lose key players.

You know Bill Belichick isn't happy about this either, in an interview this week he talked about how much you lose from this schedule. Less time to go over tape, make adjustment and really learn from the preseason games.

Still, there's plenty of reasons for Patriots fans to watch the game. The younger players will really get a chance to prove their worth against the Eagles' beast. I'll be excited to watch how Nate Ebner and Shane Vereen perform tonight.