Tom Brady has foot surgery

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady underwent surgery Thursday to repair a stress fracture in his right foot, Comcast SportsNet New England reported.

Doctors inserted a screw into Brady’s foot, CSNNE reported, to help mend an injury that had become a lingering issue.

Brady played through the injury through the 2010 season, the Boston Globe reported. The Patriots have not provided official updates on Brady’s status.

Having the surgery forced Brady to withdraw from the Pro Bowl on Jan. 30. He was replaced Thursday by Kansas City’s Matt Cassel.

Brady is expected to be ready for training camp in late July, assuming there is a labor agreement.

It will be the first Pro Bowl for Cassel, who started 15 games last season for the AFC West champions, completing 262 of 450 passes for 3,116 yards with a career-high 27 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. He missed a game following an appendectomy.

Owner confident about talks

Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti is confident that off-season labor talks will result in an agreement that will enable the NFL to avoid a work stoppage in March.

Bisciotti says the key issue is that “the revenue split is not working for the owners.” But he remains certain that both sides can hammer out an agreement.

Bisciotti says he believes “we’re going to have a full season next year.”

Raising the roof

The new head of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission said that replacing the snow-damaged roof of the Minneapolis Metrodome is likely to take five to six months, raising the possibility of affecting next season’s schedule for the Minnesota Vikings.

Ted Mondale took the oath as chairman Thursday, less than a week after Gov. Mark Dayton made the former state senator his administration’s point man on the push for a new Vikings stadium.

“This is the year we do it,” Mondale said of the effort to replace the Metrodome as the state’s NFL venue.

However, the Vikings have another season in the dome, which was damaged by a December blizzard.

Etc.

A person familiar with the situation says Tennessee Coach Jeff Fisher has decided not to keep Chuck Cecil as his defensive coordinator after two seasons in which the Titans ranked among the NFL’s worst in yards allowed. … Prosecutors have dropped domestic violence charges against former Denver Broncos linebacker Kevin Alexander after the woman he was accused of hitting refused to cooperate and didn’t show up for the trial. Alexander was cut by the Broncos after his arrest in December. … New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees has been named the recipient of the Bart Starr Award, which honors players who demonstrate good character in the home as well as leadership on their teams and in their communities.