Brady eyes birth of his first child

The Patriots’ quarterback may miss the team’s season opener Sept. 9.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Soon-to-be father Tom Brady knows he can’t make all the calls.

He’d like a few days off to be at the birth of his first child — “I hope so,” he said Monday — but the Patriots’ schedule and coach Bill Belichick might get in his way.

“Bill has a lot to say,” Brady said, “so we’ll deal with it when it happens.”

New England plays the third of its four exhibition games — the one in which Brady usually gets the most playing time — Friday night at Carolina. The first regular season game is Sept. 9 at the Jets.

Brady refused to say Monday if his former girlfriend, actress Bridget Moynahan, is due to give birth to their child before the Jets game. But Feb. 19, six months ago, her publicist, Christina Papadopoulos, said she “is over three months pregnant. Former boyfriend Tom Brady is the father.”

He doesn’t know when he’ll get a telephone call telling him he’s about to be, or already is, a father.

“I wish I did,” he said with a smile. “That’s God’s decision. The good Lord is making that call. So I think everybody’s anxious. I’ll put it that way.”

Focusing on football

Meanwhile, Brady is focusing on football — at least while he’s at work. Besides, other players on the team have wanted time off in past seasons for personal issues and received it.

“Certainly, a lot of people make sacrifices for their family,” he said, “and I’m dealing with a certain situation, a very joyous, happy situation. And some people have dealt with death in the past and that’s incredibly difficult.

“You realize when you come here you try to focus your attention and compartmentalize what you’re doing so you can give this team what it needs because that’s really what you sign up for when you come here,” he added. “I’d hate to come in here and have my mind on 100 different things when that’s not going to help this team at all. And then when I leave here I deal with that and my team takes ... a step backward.”

Played seven series

In last Friday night’s 27-24 loss to Tennessee, Brady played seven series before being replaced late in the first half. He completed 10-for-19 passes for 145 yards, a 28-yard touchdown pass to Wes Welker, and two interceptions.

In the exhibition opener, a 13-10 loss at Tampa Bay, he played two series and was 5-for-7 for 34 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.

Personal situations “are all talked about and dealt with on an individual basis,” Belichick said. “It doesn’t matter who the player is. There are plenty that have come up through the course of the year. I’ll deal with them like I do all of them.”