Tom Brady's injured hand is growing more mysterious 3 days before the AFC title game

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• Tom Brady injured his right hand on Wednesday when he reportedly collided with a teammate.
• The injury is not supposed to be serious, but curiously, Brady has canceled his media availability two days in a row and did not practice on Thursday. He was also seen wearing a glove on his right hand on Thursday.
• The Patriots could just be exercising caution with Brady, but any lingering injury to his hand could be trouble when they play the Jacksonville Jaguars' league-best defense on Sunday.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady landed on the injury report on Wednesday after a teammate reportedly collided with his right hand.

The collision was apparently serious enough to warrant an X-Ray, though it turned out negative. ESPN's Mike Reiss on Thursday reported that Brady was expected to be OK for Sunday's AFC Championship game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but that the injury "could affect him slightly."

As we move closer to the AFC title game, the extent of the injury is still a mystery, and there are several factors making the injury more curious.

Brady canceled his media availability on Wednesday after the injury and was supposed to speak on Thursday. However, on Thursday, his media availability was again cancelled, and later, the Patriots announced that Brady did not practice at all on Thursday.

The latter came as a surprise, as Brady was seen in pads on Thursday, and was, notably, wearing a glove on his right hand. As Reiss noted, last year, Brady said he prefers not to wear gloves on his throwing hand.

Furthermore, ESPN's Diana Russini tweeted that Patriots players will not say who it was that ran into Brady on Wednesday. That could be a smart decision to protect that player from any fan and media backlash, but it's also worth noting that if Brady's injury wasn't a big deal, then there would be no harm in naming that player.

Las Vegas also seems to be a bit concerned that the injury is more substantial than the Patriots might letting on, as the Patriots' line has dropped from -9 to -7.5 over the past two days.

All of this may not add up to anything. With a Super Bowl appearance on the line, the Patriots might just be acting cautiously with what's nothing more than a minor ding. They might have moved back his press conference again to try and quell the hype around his hand.

But in doing so, Brady's hand has become more of a story. On Friday, if he does speak to reporters, there's likely to be more questions about the injury, especially if he's limited at practice in any way.

Again, it could be a minor injury with which the Patriots are exercising caution. But if Brady is affected in any way from the collision, that could be trouble for the Patriots as they prepare for the NFL's most ferocious defense.