BY NICK ST. DENIS
The third week of preseason is considered the unofficial dress rehearsal for the regular season, as the first-team offenses and defenses typically play at least an entire half.
While we all know what the New England Patriots have in Tom Brady, coach Bill Belichick has typically given Brady a heavy workload in Week 3 of the exhibition season.
Christopher Price of WEEI recently broke down Brady's performances in the third week of preseason over the past six years. But looking at just the last three, New England has put an emphasis in having Brady play nearly an entire game.
In 2012, Brady played to the end of the third quarter, and in 2011 and 2010, he got at least one drive in the fourth quarter before being pulled.
With a brand new arsenal of pass-catching weapons at his disposal, Brady's trend of playing three or more quarters could very well continue Thursday night against the Detroit Lions. It will be the closest thing we'll see to the regular-season Patriots, though Brady insists real-life action can't be imitated.
"Nothing’s going to simulate what happens on opening day," Brady said this week. "That has a different feeling than any of these games; that’s just the way it is."
