Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has heard quite a few incorrect reports about his injured knee, but he has no concerns about it moving forward. "I'm not worried about, I don't think anybody is ... when you have infections, they say 'five years later, something could happen.' There is nothing I know of. I'm not being treated for anything," Brady said. "I'm going through as if this was our offseason conditioning program. I'm lifting and running, and focusing on strength, and working on the game film, and those types of things. It's exciting to be back doing things that I like and enjoy."

Raiders running back Darren McFadden underwent surgery on his injured left shoulder recently, which no one saw coming. His shoulder problem was never mentioned on the weekly injury reports mandated by the NFL last season. McFadden had the minor arthroscopic procedure in mid-January and is recovering just fine, a family member told The Chronicle.

Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward had surgery this week to "clean up" his shoulder, and doesn't not need a procedure on his sprained right knee. Ward is expected to be fine for the start of the 2009 season.

The Steelers didn't know it, but quarterback Ben Roethlisberger played in Super Bowl XLIII with a pair of broken ribs. According to SI.com, Big Ben said his fractured ribs did not show up on X-rays taken before the game on Feb. 1, but were revealed during an MRI last week. "Luckily, in the game, I didn't take any big hits to make 'em hurt," Roethlisberger said. "But I knew all along there was something wrong. There wouldn't have been anything that could have been done about fractured ribs anyway. It was just suck it up and play."

Philadelphia offensive tackle Jon Runyan has undergone microfracture surgery on his right knee, and will face four-to-six months of rehabilitation. Runyan, who is set to be a free agent, has played in 192 consecutive games. "I think there's enough of a track record out there that it's not going to totally kill me," Runyan told the Daily News of how the surgery will affect his free agency. "The doctor says I should be as good as new. But I'm not going to be able to prove it until time to play."

JaMarcus Russell might need ankle surgery this offseason, team owner Al Davis said Wednesday. "He's got some physical problems that have to be taken care of," Davis said. "I think his ankle was bothering him at the end of the year. He had some chips in there so they may have to do something with that."

Brian Westbrook will be 30 on Sept. 2 and sources indicate that the Eagles running back could require offseason knee surgery. "I think they're running medical tests to determine the source of the irritation," the source said. "If he does need surgery, it's only going to be minor and he may not need it at all. We know he will rest and work hard in the off-season and we're optimistic he'll come back healthy."