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Preseason week 2 Patriots vs Eagles: History suggests Tom Brady makes debut on Thursday

The last time Tom Brady was in a competitive in-game situation came against the Philadelphia Eagles on Super Bowl Sunday, a game the New England Patriots lost despite an otherworldly performance by its quarterback. Since then, the greatest passer of all time has only appeared in practices as he was inactive during last week’s preseason opener against the Washington Redskins.

Whether or not Brady plays in week two is up in the air, but a look back at the last few years shows that he usually enters the field during the second week of preseason:

2012 vs Philadelphia Eagles: DNP

2013 vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 11 of 12, 107 yards, 1 TD

2014 vs Philadelphia Eagles: 8 of 10, 81 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

Only once since returning from a torn ACL that robbed him of most of the 2008 season did Brady sit out both of the Patriots’ first two preseason games: in 2016, with the four-game Deflategate suspension on the horizon, he did neither play against the New Orleans Saints in week one nor the Chicago Bears in week two.