Charles Woodson: Tom Brady is ‘starting to feel all the hits’

On the heels of Tom Brady’s very un-Brady-like performance Sunday, Charles Woodson had some theories about the Patriots quarterback.

“I just think the NFL is catching up to Tom Brady,” Woodson said of his former Michigan teammate on ESPN on Monday. “I think he’s actually starting to feel all the hits, all the sacks of the NFL. It happens to every player. It happened to myself as a player. … At some point in time, it just catches up with you.”

Brady’s performance in New England’s 17-10 loss to the Steelers on Sunday — 25-for-36 for 289 yards, a touchdown and an interception — included a play that Woodson said Brady would have made earlier in his career.

The Patriots signal-caller threw a floating pass that was easily picked off by Pittsburgh cornerback Joe Haden. His explanation for the interception lent some credence to Woodson’s read on the situation.

“I was trying to throw it away and I didn’t,” Brady said after the loss. “I was just trying to flick it out of bounds. I didn’t want to take the sack. It shouldn’t happen.”

An incompletion on the final play of the game caught Woodson’s eye as well, though for all the wrong reasons.

“I think Tom Brady, he made that throw — awful interception that he threw,” Woodson said. “I felt like the last play he threw, I thought he had a chance to hit Cordarrelle Patterson in the back of the end zone if he just stepped into the pocket, but like I said, I think the hits are getting to him, and you see him trying to get the ball get out of his hand to avoid taking those hits.”

Brady, 41, has expressed a desire to play into his mid-40s and has shut down retirement conversations with his loved ones.