New England Patriots' Tom Brady to have stitches in hand removed this week

New England quarterback Tom Brady said he will get the stitches removed from his injured right hand this week and claimed he will be fine for Super Bowl LII on Feb. 4 in Minneapolis.

Brady played with a reported 10 or 12 stitches after he said his thumb got "bent back" in practice Wednesday, when he collided with running back Rex Burkhead on a handoff attempt.

"It was just a crazy injury in practice," Brady said on his weekly appearance on the "Kirk & Callahan" show on WEEI radio Monday morning in Boston. "It didn't look good there for a little bit."

Brady added that he "definitely wasn't sure" Wednesday night if he was going to be able to play in the AFC Championship Game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He did, completing 26 of 38 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns, both in the fourth quarter to Danny Amendola.

Brady played with tape underneath his right thumb and protecting his palm as New England rallied to win 24-20.

"As the game went on, it got better and better and better," Brady said of the injury. "It won't be a problem in a couple of weeks, which I'm really happy about."

While initially saying the timing of the injury was bad luck, Brady admitted that he and the Patriots avoided a worst-case scenario -- no ligament damage, no broken bones.

"That was obviously the best news I could ever hear," he said. "It turned out to be a lot of good luck that it wasn't more serious than it was. I think we're very lucky."

The Patriots will pursue their sixth Super Bowl title and third in the last four years.

"As a fan, you probably love to see other people in it and other people get chances," Brady said.

"But every year has been different and every team is different and every season is different. This team earned it. If people don't like that, it's their prerogative. They can do whatever they want. But to get this far with this team is incredible."