Brady Sharp in A.M. Practice

FOXBORO - Last week, Tom Brady's mere presence on a practice field at Gillette Stadium garnered more attention than his actual performance. In the fine print, though, were words like "rusty," "stiff," and inaccurate.

He didn't look that way Tuesday. In a 90-minute practice wearing shells, Brady moved well, threw hard and accurate and even scrambled and threw on the run during an 7-on-7red zone drill, finding Randy Moss in the end zone.

I was paying close attention to his movements to see if there was any favoring. The only instance I saw came during the first part of practice when the quarterbacks and receivers run through bags. First, they go through straight, picking up their knees to clear the 18-inch bags. Next, they go through sideways leading with a different leg on the two reps. Finally, there was a zig-zag around the bags and on one, Brady didn't seem to push off to start the cut to the right with full intensity. But one step on one bag drill during a June OTA actually demonstrates that there really is nothing limiting him in these non-contact drills.

Brady and Moss spent one of the team's 14 "sessions" working with each other on reading the safety in the red zone with Moss noting which way Director of Player Personnel Nick Caserio turned his hips as a key to run to the post or the corner.

In December, a source told me Brady was significantly behind in his rehab from the early October surgery that fixed his torn ACL and MCL. A buildup of scar tissue after an infection set in limited the range of motion in Brady's knee and there was laxity in both the ACL and MCL. While the source never said Brady's 2009 season was doomed, it was noted that the laxity could present a problem if the scar tissue and range of motion prevented him from strengthening his leg.

Clearly, Brady's made up whatever time he was behind. Now, the strength of the knee and repair by Dr. Neal El Attrache, who performed the surgery have made the knee strong enough for Brady to participate at a fairly astonishing level in early June.

Health is a transitory thing. And while I most definitely stand by the original story and the bona fides of my source, Brady is certainly not behind schedule now.