Tom Brady required 12 stitches to close up a cut on his throwing hand suffered during practice last week, but his performance during Sunday's AFC Championship Game didn't appear to be affected.

"I thought, 'Of all the plays, my season can't end on a handoff in practice. I didn't come this far to end on a handoff,'" Brady said of the injury after the New England Patriots came back to defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars.

He played so well that he felt uncomfortable admitting the injury hindered him during the game.

"I think it kind of sounds arrogant to say, 'Oh, yeah, it bothered me,' when you have a pretty good game. So I won't say it," Brady said, smiling.