New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady played half the season with a hernia and will have surgery to correct the problem, the Boston Herald reported Thursday.

The surgery should occur within the next two weeks, the newspaper reported.

The ailment did not keep Brady from practicing or force him to miss any time during the season, but the paper reported that he did throw some passes uncharacteristically high as the season went on, indicating the injury may have affected his release.


Brady withdrew from the Pro Bowl earlier this week, citing an unspecified medical condition.

Despite the injury Brady had one of his better seasons, throwing for a career-high 4,110 yards with 26 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and a 92.3 rating.

Patriots' players were well aware that Brady was hobbled during the year.

“Yeah, of course,” Willie McGinest told the paper.

McGinest was reminded that Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb sat out the second half of the season with a similar injury.

“That’s Donovan,” McGinest also told paper. “We’re not talking about Donovan, we’re talking about Tom. I didn’t know how severe it was, but I knew it was bothering him. But you have guys who play with all types of injuries across the league and on our team. Being the kind of competitor he is, he wasn’t going to let it slow him down.”

A hernia, according to Steve Bushee, head athletic trainer in the Boston College Sports Medicine department, told the paper “usually means a tear in the abdominal wall that allows tissue to poke through and may require surgery.”

A sports hernia, said Bushee, is a disruption in the inguinal canal — in the groin area — and may persist a long time. Surgery can repair it.
© 2006 NBC Sports.com

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