Tom Brady took 'moderate' risk of serious injury playing on reported torn MCL

The NFL community continues to ask plenty of questions after learning Thursday that Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady played the 2020 season on what was first reported to be a partially torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee that he first suffered during the 2019 campaign later said by sources to be a fully torn MCL.

Brady turns 44 years old in August, so it's understandable why he avoided going under the knife until this past offseason. According to NBC Sports and "Sunday Night Football" sports medicine analyst Mike Ryan, the seven-time champion signal-caller took the field with a "moderate" risk of worsening the issue each week. 

"Ligaments stabilize joints," Ryan explained in text messages shared by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. "With a compromised ligament, the joint has more laxity. The greater the instability of the ligament, the greater the looseness of the joint." 

As for whether the MCL was partially or completely torn, Ryan noted: "With the thin slicing of an MRI, if a small tear in the MCL exists, it will be graded as Grade 3, or complete tear." 

Dr. Jesse Morse of The Fantasy Doctors said in a video that Brady likely played through pain each game.