NFL notebook: Patriots' Brady questionable for Sunday's game

Tom Brady wore red gloves to the podium on Friday but the New England Patriots quarterback was not interested in talking about his injured right hand -- or much of anything else. When asked how confident he is in playing in Sunday's AFC Championship Game against the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars, Brady said: "We'll see." Brady, who practiced on a limited basis Friday and was listed as questionable, also offered a short answer when asked about the nature of the injury and repeated the same line of "I'm not talking about it" in regard to if he threw footballs during practice. The injury occurred during Wednesday's practice when Brady jammed his throwing hand after a teammate accidentally ran into him, according to the Boston Herald. X-rays showed no structural damage. Multiple media outlets reported that the injury is to Brady's thumb. The NFL Network reported that Brady's thumb was gushing blood and stitches were required to close the gash, but a source told the network that the quarterback was "zinging it pretty good" during Friday's practice. Journeyman Brian Hoyer is Brady's backup. New England had four other players listed as questionable: Defensive lineman Alan Branch (knee), running backs Rex Burkhead (knee) and Mike Gillislee (knee) and offensive lineman LaAdrian Waddle. --Jacksonville Jaguars safety Tashaun Gipson was listed as questionable for Sunday's AFC Championship Game against the Patriots in Foxborough, Mass. Gipson is nursing a right foot injury that he sustained in the third-seeded Jaguars' 45-42 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday. --Jaguars defensive tackle Malik Jackson isn't buying that Brady will be hampered by his reported right hand injury. Why? Well, Jackson recently has heard an opponent cite an injury to its main star ahead of facing the Jaguars. "I remember (Buffalo Bills running back) LeSean McCoy said he had a high ankle sprain and came out there cutting and stuff," the 28-year-old Jackson said on Pro Football Live. McCoy was listed as day-to-day with the injury prior to Jacksonville's 10-3 win over Buffalo in the AFC wild-card game. --The Minnesota Vikings remain optimistic that safety Andrew Sendejo will be available for Sunday's clash at the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game. Sendejo remained in the league's concussion protocol despite being a full participant in Friday's practice. He was scheduled to undergo further tests Friday, but coach Mike Zimmer told reporters that he expects him to play. Wide receiver Adam Thielen, who has been limited in practice all week by lower-back issues, was listed as questionable. Nose tackle Shamar Stephen was ruled out against the top-seeded Eagles. --Linebacker Dannell Ellerbe was the only player listed as questionable for the Philadelphia Eagles for Sunday's NFC Championship Game against the Vikings. Ellerbe was a limited participant in Friday's practice because of a hamstring injury. He also was listed as questionable a week ago but started for the Eagles in their divisional round win over the Atlanta Falcons. --Dowell Loggains, fired recently as offensive coordinator by the Chicago Bears, was hired to the same position by the Miami Dolphins, reuniting with head coach Adam Gase. The 37-year-old Loggains was quarterbacks coach for one year in Chicago under Gase and took over as offensive coordinator when Gase moved on to the Dolphins as head coach in 2016. --New York Jets wide receiver Robby Anderson was arrested on nine charges early Friday morning in Sunrise, Fla. Per the Broward County Sheriff's Office, Anderson is charged with resisting an officer, harming a public servant/family, eluding a law enforcement officer with sirens on, and several other driving violations that include speeding, running a red light and failing to drive in a single lane. According to the police report obtained by NJ.com, the arresting officer said he clocked Anderson going 105 mph in a 45-mph zone. He also ran two red lights and swerved across the road. --Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield appeared to call his shot well ahead of the 2018 NFL Draft. With Dolphins wide receiver Kenny Stills making an Instagram appearance on Thursday, Mayfield chimed in with the following hashtag: "#GetMeToMiami." After an initial spark over social media, Mayfield attempted to douse the flames by citing his ties with his fellow former Sooners player in Stills. "Just so everybody knows... I commented about playing for Miami because I was talking to a former Sooner in Kenny Stills," Mayfield wrote on Twitter. "Everybody can relax, I will play anywhere that gives me a chance. I'm not picky, I will go anywhere and strive to uplift a franchise and win ball games. --New York Giants general manager Dave Gettleman made good on his word by meeting with quarterback Eli Manning. Gettleman promised he'd sit down with the 37-year-old Manning after being introduced as the team's new general manager. He officially was hired on Dec. 29. "We had a great conversation and everything went well," Gettleman said, via the New York Post. The newspaper did not note the day of the meeting, although Newsday reported that it was last Friday. Gettleman did not go into specifics of what was said or if it led to any closure or decisions in regard to Manning's future with the Giants. --Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Eli Rogers suffered a torn ACL in Sunday's season-ending loss, according to a published report. Rogers was hurt on Pittsburgh's final drive of Sunday's 45-42 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. The 25-year-old Rogers, who had a season-high five receptions against the Jaguars, is scheduled to become a restricted free agent in the offseason. --Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell has come under fire for a pair of decisions he made prior to the team's AFC divisional-round loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Bell skipped all but the final five minutes of the Saturday walk-through and arrived later than the deadline imposed by coach Mike Tomlin for gamedays on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Tomlin requires players and staff to be present at least two hours before kickoff. --The NFL announced that the Oakland Raiders were in compliance with the Rooney Rule during the hiring of Jon Gruden as their head coach. The league said it was satisfied that the Raiders and owner Mark Davis interviewed minority candidates for the position before reaching an agreement with Gruden. The Fritz Pollard Alliance released a statement Friday, saying it "strongly disagreed" with the NFL's findings and termed the interviews of Bobby Johnson and Tee Martin as meaningless. --Bruce Arians, who resigned on Jan. 1 as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals after five seasons, is auditioning for a new job -- as an NFL analyst on television. The 65-year-old Arians has had interviews with FOX Sports and the NFL Network, and said he also has his eye on the job Jon Gruden left on Monday Night Football to rejoin the Oakland Raiders. --Former quarterback Drew Bledsoe will serve as the New England Patriots' honorary captain for Sunday's AFC Championship Game against the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars. --The NFL granted special eligibility to a record number of underclassmen, who will flood the first round with talent. The official number of underclassmen who applied to enter the draft is 106, breaking the record of 98, set in 2014. There were 96 underclassmen eligible for the draft in 2016 and 95 last season. In reality, though, 123 players gave up college eligibility for the 2018 NFL Draft, including 13 who earned degrees and four who didn't need special eligibility.