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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- LB Darius Fleming played a reserve role in last Saturday evening's Divisional Round win over the Chiefs with stitches in his leg. In the violent world of NFL football, that's not notable. How Fleming got those stitches, though, is.
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On Wednesday, it was revealed that Fleming took the field for the Patriots-Chiefs game with 22 stitches in his leg, an injury he sustained two days earlier, after rescuing a woman who'd been in a car accident just north of Gillette Stadium.
Last Thursday, as he was driving home from practice, Fleming witnessed a three-car accident and quickly realized that one of the drivers was trapped in her vehicle, he said.
"She was attempting to kick the window out, but she was a small lady," Fleming recalled, explaining that he sprang into action, first trying to break the window with his elbow and then with his foot.
"It was a little freaky, but anyone in that situation would've done the same thing."
Although Fleming tried to keep it all quiet, his teammates pressed him to tell the story as soon as they got wind of it, according to Devin McCourty.
"We got the hero speech," McCourty said. "He gave us his account of what happened and a lot of cheers went on. He will admit there was probably some easier solutions he could have done, but I think it was nice. A nice dramatic kick-the-window-in-and-pull-her-out."
Matthew Slater also took time to share some thoughts on his teammate's actions.
"Darius has been a standup guy since he got here," the Patriots captain commented. "When I heard the story, I wasn't surprised at all, because you look at Darius and the way he carries himself, the way he treats people, you know, he's a tremendous young man. We're obviously all very proud of him. You never know what you'd do in that kind of situation but what he did was pretty remarkable."
--QB Tom Brady is the unquestioned leader of the Patriots and, by all accounts, the hardest worker and most prepared player on the team. But some may forget that Brady is, like so many NFL players, also a family man.
Brady has a wife to go home to and children to spend time with. This time of year when work is its most stressful and important, even an icon like Brady has a balancing act between football and family.
"It's a lot different," Brady said of his current preparation as compared to his earlier in his career when he was single. "When your daughter doesn't get any sleep at night and you're up, that's part of us being parents and dealing with things at home and stuff. There's a lot less time to recover if you miss nights of sleep, (but) I think things are pretty efficient for me this time of year.
"I've been at it, and my kids are getting a little older now, too. So, at least I've had a few years to kind of get into a routine. I think that's probably a challenging thing for a lot of players in our career. Family is a big part of everyone's life, and then to add it to a really busy football schedule, it's a lot of give-and-take. It takes a lot of support to have."
--WR Matthew Slater has a newborn baby at home, so the Pro Bowler admits that he leans on his wife and others as he tries his best to keep everything in order.
"My wife is the MVP," Slater admitted. "She's really been great about that, allowing me to take care of the business here that I need to, but my family will always be the most important thing to me, and football will always come after my family.
"Definitely, there is time management involved. I can't dilly-dally around here like I used to. But I'm excited about what's going on at home, and obviously excited about what's going on here."
--Broncos DE Antonio Smith described Patriots QB Tom Brady as a crybaby who looks to the ref after every sack and hit. The New England quarterback was asked about that description and didn't exactly deny it.
"I'm not sure what the other quarterbacks do," Brady said, before joking that he doesn't really recall how a lot of those heat-of-battle conversation with refs go. "I don't remember much from them. I've taken a lot of hits over the years.
"If the refs want to throw the flag, I love when they throw flags on the defenders, absolutely. It advances our team, so that's just part of football.
--Linebacker Jerod Mayo (shoulder) was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday after the injury suffered in the win over the Kansas City Chiefs. It's the third straight year the veteran former Pro Bowler has finished the season on Injured Reserve and given a projected salary cap number of more than $11 million next year could spell the end of the former first-round pick's career in New England.
--Wide receiver Julian Edelman (foot) continues to be listed as limited in practice though he returned to full game action in the playoff opener after missing the final seven games of the regular season.
--TE Rob Gronkowski (knee/back) was limited in practice on Wednesday after playing wire-to-wire in the win over Kansas City. The tight end missed two practices last week due to the injuries.
--Wide receiver Matthew Slater (shin) did not practice on Wednesday because of the injury that he sustained last Saturday against the Chiefs.
--Wide receiver Danny Amendola (knee), tight end Scott Chandler (knee), linebacker Jamie Collins (back), defensive back Nate Ebner (hand) remains limited in practice after playing with a cast this past week, linebacker Darius Fleming (back/shin), linebacker Jonathan Freeny (hand), linebacker Dont'a Hightower (knee), guard Tre' Jackson (knee),
defensive end Chandler Jones (abdomen/toe), defensive end Rob Ninkovich (shin) remains limited in practice, center Bryan Stork (ankle), tackle
Sebastian Vollmer (ankle) and offensive lineman LaAdrian Waddle (shoulder) were limited in practice on Wednesday.
--Quarterback Tom Brady (ankle), offensive lineman Josh Kline (shoulder), wide receiver Brandon LaFell (foot) and safety Devin McCourty (ankle) were full participants in practice.
