But the fans aren't the only ones excited about seeing Brady playing in a game — the quarterback himself is buying into the hype.
Sporting a hat with his personalized "TB12" logo, Brady appeared relaxed and confident after a morning walkthrough on Tuesday.
“I’m ready," he said to a group of reporters. "I think everybody is ready. … It will be nice for us to get out there and play the Eagles. They really gave it to us last year, so hopefully we perform better.”
The focus for many in the region, of course, won't be on the Eagles as much as it will be on the left knee of Brady. He's practiced with and without a knee brace on the surgically repaired tendons, but Brady's focus heading into Thursday night's game is on getting a feel for game action once again.
"There's a lot of things you can simulate in practice, but in a game, they're very different," he said.
When asked if he was anxious about getting hit and how he would respond, Brady said that it wasn't on the forefront of his mind.
“I’m really not. I’m more excited than anything," he said. "I don't think there is [anything] to be nervous about for me. I’m just excited. I’m excited to see how our team performs — that’s what I’m most excited about, to see what the 2009 version of the Patriots can be like."
Coach Bill Belichick, in his press conference between practice sessions, spoke about the importance of getting Brady back.
"Tom’s worked hard in the offseason," Belichick said. "He’s been a great player for this organization for many years and we’re glad to have him back out there. … He’s meant a lot to this team and he’s worked hard to get back on the field. I’m glad that he has an opportunity to do what he loves doing and I know he loves football."
Despite the mutual excitement from both quarterback and coach, Belichick was characteristically tight-lipped about whether or not Brady will play on Thursday.
"We’ll do what’s best for the football team, so whatever decisions those are, that’s the combination of the team and the player," he said. "Whatever is best on that, that’s what we’ll do. Some players will play. Some players won’t play. Some players will play more than others and those decisions — that will be on all the factors that we’ve already talked about."
Though it is just the first of four preseason games, Brady said he believes Belichick might be treating it with a bit more passion than your average mid-August game.
"I don’t know what he’s got in store," Brady said of his coach. "From his tone and the message he’s been sending to the team, it doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a first preseason game for us. So I think he wants to see what we’re all about. I don’t think it’s like a guest appearance or anything like that. I think we’re going out there to play.”
Brady said that the team has worked a bit harder than usual during this training camp.
"It’s really been an up-tempo camp. There has been no down time," he
said. "We meet three times a day, we practice twice a day. We have
night meetings. We’ve had one day off in about two and a half weeks.
Before, the schedule has been different and you’ve had a chance to
catch your breath a little bit. Not this year. We just keep getting
after it."
When a cell phone went off in the middle of the press scrum, Brady showed the same quickness on his feet that he has in the pocket on Sundays, seamlessly adding, "Let me get that" to the end of one of his answers.
Brady also discussed his recent guest appearance on Entourage, which aired on Sunday.
"It was a lot of fun," he said. "It's a bunch of New York guys … It was fun to be around those guys. I think I turned them into Patriot fans."
The hooplah surrounding the otherwise meaningless preseason game is understandable, of course. Given how quickly Brady's hopes were dashed last year of repeating the history of 2007, it will be interesting to see if the man with 197 touchdowns and a 63 percent completion rate is changed after his injury.
Still, given all that past success, Brady proved that Belichick will always be the one calling the shots.
"How much do I want to play? As much as the coach asks me to play," he said with a smile. "It’s a game and everyone loves playing in the game so I’d love to play as much as he wants to keep me in there. I’ll be ready to go."
