By Phil Perry
CSNNE.com
The Chargers weren't penalized for an illegal hit on Tom Brady last Sunday, but Bolts' defensive tackle Antonio Garay was dealt a blow to his bank account.
Garay was fined 15,000 for hitting Tom Brady below the knee, according to ESPN.
In the third quarter of the Patriots' 35-21 victory over San Diego, Garay tackled Brady around Brady's left knee. The quarterback twisted to the ground and the way his knee bent in the wrong direction may have incurred flashbacks for fans who watched Brady go down with a season-ending ACL tear at the start of the 2008 season.
Brady got up and was fine, and he credited the brace wears on his knee for keeping him from enduring another potentially devastating injury.
"I'm glad I had a knee brace on," Brady said in his weekly appearance on Boston sports radio station WEEI. "Those are scary when you've been through those ones before. He got me in a good spot and I'm glad the knee brace took the brunt of the force. Why I never wore a knee brace before (his season-ending ACL injury in 2008) I have no idea and why every quarterback doesn't wear one on their left knee I have no idea. It's just so unprotected."