Brady Now Questionable for Game on Saturday

Tom Brady walked to his locker without a limp, stretched with his teammates and said he was feeling better.

A few hours later, Wednesday’s injury report came out, listing the New England Patriot quarterback as questionable because of shin and shoulder injuries, the first time that has happened this season but hardly a guarantee that his 84-game playing streak will end.

“I’m doing better than I was a few days ago,” he said.

Then the gag rule kicked in and he followed Coach Bill Belichick’s orders not to discuss his condition three days after he hurt his left leg in last Sunday’s 35-7 win over the Buffalo Bills.

“We’ll see how it goes. Hopefully, I’ll be out there,” Brady said of Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. “I wish I could elaborate, but Belichick said, ‘Don’t say anything about it,’ so what the boss says, that’s what I do.”

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Donovan McNabb is still taking shots -- the latest from an NAACP leader who criticized the quarterback’s leadership skills and said he “played the race card” in explaining why he no longer runs the ball.

J. Whyatt Mondesire, who publishes a newspaper for blacks and is the president of the Philadelphia branch of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, recently wrote that the Eagles’ star quarterback failed as a team leader in the Super Bowl.

Mondesire, publisher of the Philadelphia Sunday Sun, criticized McNabb in a column in his newspaper on Dec. 4.

“If you talk about my play, that’s one thing,” McNabb said. “When you talk about my race, now we’ve got problems.... I always thought the NAACP supported African Americans and didn’t talk bad about them. Now you learn a little bit more.”

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Struggling New Orleans Saint quarterback Aaron Brooks has been benched for the rest of the season.

“It’s not an indictment of Aaron whatsoever,” Coach Jim Haslett said. “It’s an indictment on our record.”

Haslett said he was replacing Brooks with Todd Bouman because of the Saints’ 3-10 record.

Brooks has started 82 consecutive games.

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Marques Tuiasosopo was sent back to the bench when the Oakland Raiders moved Kerry Collins back into the starting role for Sunday’s game against Cleveland.

Coach Norv Turner said last week he wanted to give Tuiasosopo an extended look to see if he could revive Oakland’s listless offense. Both Collins and Tuiasosopo said at the time it was their understanding that the move was for the rest of the season.

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Atlanta Falcon quarterback Michael Vick downplayed his bruised ribs after sitting out most of practice, saying he will start Sunday night against the Chicago Bears.... St. Louis Ram cornerback Travis Fisher was put on injured reserve because of a groin injury.... Kelly Holcomb will start for the Buffalo Bills at quarterback against Denver on Saturday in place of the injured J.P. Losman, Coach Mike Mularkey announced.... Miami Dolphin center Seth McKinney probably will be sidelined the rest of the season because of a knee injury suffered Sunday at San Diego.... The NFL suspended without pay Seattle Seahawk reserve offensive tackle Wayne Hunter for Sunday’s game at Tennessee for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. The punishment is related to a domestic dispute with his girlfriend in the summer of 2003.... New Orleans players will get a $40,000 bonus from the NFL and the NFL Players Assn. for “performing under unusual and unanticipated conditions arising from the Hurricane Katrina tragedy.”