When Tom Brady went down in the first game last season you could almost hear the collective breathes of the Patriots faithful gasp.

It was only fifteen plays into the 2008 NFL season when Kansas City Chief Bernard Pollard took Brady down and tore the ACL in his left knee. The season was now in the hands of little known backup Matt Cassel.

That was last year, and now 2009 is upon us. Matt Cassel is a Chief and Tom Brady is back. But what can we expect from Brady in 2009? Will he lose a step, or be the guy who set records two years ago?

Years ago a torn ACL would cause a team to panic, may be even consider letting him go all together and move on with another guy. That is not the case in the 21^st century as modern medicine and advancements in medical procedures have made quick comebacks the in thing.

More recently Carson Palmer tore his ACL out in a Wild Card game back in January of 2006. He was back for the first preseason game and looked sharp for most of the 2006 regular season.

That same season Donovan McNabb tore his in November, and was back by the 2007 opener.

The question is not if Brady is healthy enough to play, but what will his mindset be, and how quickly will he adapt back to the speed of live action? Many quarterbacks have more of a mental problem than a physical problem. They want to take it easy and not take the chance of having the knee go again. Then there are the ones who just go out there and let it rip.

Tom Brady will more than likely be the guy who just goes out there and plays, and why shouldn’t he?

He has Randy Moss and Wes Welker at the receiver spots. Laurence Maroney and newly acquired Fred Taylor at tailback, plus other guys with less credibility than Brady will make stars in their own right. As long as the offensive line can protect him, there should be no reason he doesn’t have a Pro Bowl type season.

Brady will not put up the 50 TD, 4800 yard passing output up like he did two years ago. Look for the Pats to run the ball more with the two solid backs, and look for that to set up play action to Moss. In the end Brady doesn’t put up as many yards, but will still heave up at least 30 TD’s.

Oh, and a healthy Brady should lead to a healthy playoff run.

What do you think about the season Brady will or will not have? What are his chances of being injured again? If he gets injured are the Patriots doomed without a veteran backup?