The full extent of Tom Brady’s shoulder injury isn’t known — or the Patriots aren’t saying, at least — but the doctor who reconstructed his left knee said things look good on that front.
“I know where we are with this thing, I know how far he’s come, and I know how his knee feels not only to me but to him,” Dr. Neal ElAttrache said in a phone interview Saturday. “All those things are extremely reassuring.”
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ElAttrache was watching the broadcast of Friday’s exhibition game between the Patriots and Redskins in which Brady was crunched to the turf at the end of the first half by defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. Brady landed awkwardly on his throwing shoulder and shortly after was shown on the bench wincing while windmilling his arm.
“The good signs were that he was moving it right afterward,” said ElAttrache, who spoke to Brady later that night but declined to give any specifics on his condition. “Sore shoulder” was the team’s official diagnosis.
Asked for an assessment based strictly on what he observed on TV, ElAttrache said: “No one had to do any sort of maneuver or manipulation to help his shoulder feel better, which would indicate there was no dislocation or anything like that. But really the next day and further tests tell the story, and how the player feels in the upcoming days.”
As for the knee, ElAttrache likes everything he has seen, especially the way Brady is stepping into his throws in the face of a pass rush.
“He’s been able to do that very quickly, even from the first game that he played,” ElAttrache said. “It looked like he had no hesitation doing it. I had my hunch that he was going to be able to do that quite well, just knowing how he was approaching the whole thing mentally. But you never know that until they’re really coming at you.
“So watching him move in the pocket was one thing. The other thing that indicated he had confidence was when he called his own number in that first game and ran the ball. I think he did it to prove that it wasn’t an issue. Knowing him the way I do, I think that was a message that he was sending, saying, ‘If there’s any questions left, let me answer them.’ Then he went ahead and did that.”
While emphasizing that he loves watching Brady play — and watches every game — ElAttrache said he holds his breath on each snap.
“I’m sitting on the edge of my seat, basically every play,” he said. “The guy plays a dangerous game. And just like his mom and dad are sitting on the edge of their seat every play, and most likely were doing that even before his injuries, it has a whole new meaning for me having been through this with him. So I have a keen interest in almost every play.”
Giving stereotypes the boot: David Buehler has embarrassed the competition before. DeAngelo Smith wasn’t the first victim.
The two Cowboys rookies staged a 50-yard race after a practice this month, and Buehler — a kicker — beat the free-agent defensive back.
“I beat him off the line, and the rest is history,” said Buehler, a fifth-round pick from USC.
Even though they have a Pro Bowl kicker in Nick Folk, the Cowboys couldn’t resist drafting Buehler to handle kickoffs — they were the only team not to record a touchback last season — and maybe work on punt-return and punt-coverage teams.
Buehler created a major buzz at the scouting combine when he knocked out 25 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press (two more than USC linebacker Rey Maualuga) and ran the 40 in 4.57 seconds (faster than the other two Trojans linebackers, Brian Cushing and Clay Matthews).
All this came as little surprise at USC, where people grew accustomed to Buehler’s feats of athleticism. At various times, he was a reserve fullback and safety and played on some coverage teams.
Buehler is enjoying the variety of his current job, although he has yet to experience hitting a fellow kicker. Wouldn’t that be a special-teamer’s version of cannibalism?
“I guess you could say that,” Buehler said with a laugh. “It would be kind of fun, though.”
Anywhere but here: What does the future hold for former No. 1 pick Alex Smith?
He officially lost the 49ers’ quarterback battle last week when Shaun Hill was named the starter. But Mike Martz, the 49ers’ offensive coordinator last season, thinks Smith has what it takes to play somewhere in the NFL.
Smith’s time with the 49ers “is not real good history for him,” said Martz, now an NFL Network analyst. “A lot of times this happens in the league. You look at Kurt Warner and Trent Green, guys that bounced around to different teams, and it finally set in for [them].
“[Smith] probably ultimately is going to need to go to another team. He deserves another opportunity.”
Small potatoes: So what does Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall’s suspension for the rest of the preseason mean, dollar-wise?
The nine-day suspension amounts to $1,832 in per diem — less than 2 percent of his $129,294 game check. To put that in perspective, that’s like a $39 fine for someone who brings in Colorado’s median single-earner income of $46,765.
Prolific Packers: Nobody wins Lombardi Trophies in August, but it’s hard to ignore how good the Packers’ No. 1 offense has looked. That unit has scored on 10 of its 12 possessions in the exhibition season, including nine touchdowns.
“No punts yet for the first team,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers told reporters after a 44-37 victory at Arizona on Friday in which the Packers scored 38 points in the first half. “That is incredible. We’ve been clicking, but we’ve got to keep this momentum going.”
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Rodgers and his receivers made star cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie look like a scrub. It’s also worth noting that Cardinals rookie Beanie Wells made some spectacular runs, gaining 46 yards on seven carries and scoring two touchdowns — good news for a team that made the Super Bowl last season despite a last-place ground game.
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Sam Farmer covers the NFL for the Los Angeles Times.