FOXBORO — The Patriots have certain advantages every time they take the field these days.
They have a defense that is seasoned, versatile, and off to a historically dominant start.
They have an offense that is quarterbacked by the greatest to ever play that position, someone who's seen just about everything there is to see in professional football, and organized by a coordinator who's had the reins for the bulk of the quarterback's career.
Every week they have an advantage thanks to their head coach and the attention to detail he provides the overall operation.
On Thursday night, the numbers would suggest that those advantages are magnified.
The Patriots are 11-2 in 13 Thursday games with Tom Brady. That's a 85 percent winning percentage, which is better than Brady's career winning percentage of 78 percent. Even better? He's a perfect 8-0 when he only has three days to prepare for an opponent.
The 42-year-old has 28 touchdowns against five picks in his career on Thursday night, and he boasts a quarterback rating (107.2) that is more than 10 points higher than the one he's racked up on Sundays over the last two decades (96.9).
This Thursday, the Patriots will take on a banged-up Giants team that might be without running back Saquon Barkley, receiver Sterling Shepard and tight end Evan Engram, a team that will be leaning on rookie quarterback Daniel Jones.
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Doesn't feel like a fair fight.
Brady was asked on Tuesday why his record has been so good on Thursdays, as the Patriots are typically coming off of a short week of preparation.
"Just gotta utilize the time as best you can," he said. "I know for me, [the Washington] game ended, I started thinking about the Giants. Just use as much time as you can between now and kickoff to get to know 'em, especially against a team you're not that familiar with. We don't play them that often. Play them in the preseason, but once every four years [in the regular season].
"Gotta get to know them as best you can, know their strengths, try to come up with things you think you can attack. We're not getting a lot of time on the practice field, but you can talk through a lot of things, then you gotta go out there and execute them in a three-hour window on Thursday night."
Brady and his teammates will go into Thursday without having really practiced this week. They held a walkthrough on Tuesday in sweats. Part of the reason that lack of practice time hasn't bothered Brady is because his experience level allows him to understand where his focus should lay when his on-the-field prep is abbreviated.
"I'm pretty efficient with my time," he said. "Any time you have experience doing things, like I do, like you guys do when you've been at your job a long time, like a lot of people do when they've been in their job a long time, you know what works, you know what doesn't work. You just try to get to the things that work and that you know are gonna be successful.
"Whether that's your preparation, how you study, how you utilize your time. I think there's always a balance for a player between your mental preparation, your physical preparation, your emotional preparation, and how you try to be at the peak for all three of those phases for the particular game that you're playing. You don't have the physical time to practice so mentally you gotta take advantage of that, get your body right, be prepared, and then go out there and execute at a high level."
Just as Brady can come to the Patriots sideline and get together with Josh McDaniels to make the proper adjustments after one series when they've seen something they weren't expecting, he can use the library of football information he's collected over the years to help him prepare appropriately before a Thursday game even if his practice time is cut short. And if the quick-and-dirty prep isn't sufficient, Brady and McDaniels can make the adjustments they've become accustomed to making on the sidelines mid-game.
Brady's practice workload has been limited at times this year even during normal weeks. At this stage of his career, getting a few reps off in the days leading up to the game can serve as a benefit. The Patriots recently acquired a third quarterback, Cody Kessler, to help share the workload that was previously split between Brady and rookie backup Jarrett Stidham.
Practice helps, of course. It's how Brady gets on the same page with teammates who haven't been through two decades of football with him.
"It gives me confidence in what we're doing," he said. "It helps me anticipate things with the players we're playing with. So maybe I may have done things, I still recognize that a lot of other players haven't done those things. My connection with them is very important. Even though I've been doing it, the two of us need to do it together.
"Football is a very coordinated game. Everybody needs to be thinking the same thing, reacting the same way, anticipating the same way in order for it to be successful. That's why us being out there as a unit is very important, practicing, executing in practice so you can build confidence. The confidence builds trust, and the trust leads to good execution when you're out there on the field."
But for Brady as an individual? Less practice time doesn't necessarily mean a hollow performance is coming the following week. In fact, it's proven to lead to just the opposite.
"I've had a lot of practices," he said. "If you think, probably 100 practices a year over the course of a season. Maybe more than that. Maybe 120. Over 20 years. [That's] just professional. All through high school, college. Football is very much, I would say, like riding a bike for me now. I know what to do. I know where to look."
On Thursday night, having that knowledge — even without the benefit of practice time — will be a game-changer.
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