Brady confident of fitness for Kansas encounter

Quarterback Tom Brady has insisted that he is ready to go in the New England Patriots' season-opener against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. But the record-setting quarterback, who has been nursing an injured right foot throughout the pre-season, did not indicate whether he definitely would play at the Gillette Stadium. "If it is up to me, there is no question," said Brady, last year's league MVP. "But those questions aren't always up to me. I am always hoping that I am going to be out there and preparing the same way. I think I have been getting progressively better."

Brady, 31, did not play in any of the Patriots' pre-season games - which all ended in defeats. "I felt like I could have played in all of them," he said. "I practised the entire pre-season pretty much. I practised all those weeks. "I just didn't get the opportunity to play. "The decision was made, 'Okay Tom, you are not going to play'. I was fine with that. "I said, 'Okay, if that is what you guys feel is best then that is what you guys feel is best'."

Brady passed for 4,806 yards and a league-record 50 touchdowns last year for the Patriots, who became the first team in NFL history to complete a 16-0 regular season, before they were beaten in the Super Bowl by the New York Giants. A two-time Super Bowl MVP, Brady has started 127 consecutive games, the third-longest run in NFL history. * Reuters