Tom Brady reportedly needed more than 10 stitches to injured hand, sprained a ligament, and it is being called 'a legitimate issue'

Steven Senne/AP

• Tom Brady reportedly needed more than 10 stitches to the inside of his throwing hand as a result of a collision with teammate Rex Burkhead in practice.
• One report described the scene as "bloody" and a second report described the injury as "gushing blood."
• In addition to the stitches, Brady also reportedly sprained a ligament in the thumb of his throwing hand.
• Brady will start in the AFC Championship game, but it appears that he will be forced to wear a glove on his throwing hand to protect the stitches.

Tom Brady will start in the AFC Championship game despite what is sounding more and more like a gruesome injury he suffered to his hand during a collission with a teammate in practice.

Brady and the New England Patriots have been mysteriously quiet about the extend of Brady's injury, but some new reports on the morning of the AFC title game paint an ugly picture.

According to Mike Reiss of ESPN, Brady needed "more than 10 stitches" on the inside part of his right hand, near the thumb. Reiss was also told that it was a "bloody scene."

"[Brady] required more than 10 stitches after sustaining a cut on the inside part of his right throwing hand near the thumb Wednesday, per source," Reiss wrote on Twitter. "Those at practice described a bloody scene."

Albert Breer of theMMQB reports that Brady also sprained a ligament in his thumb on his throwing hand. He did also note that Brady "threw well" in practice on Friday.

Still, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network called the injury a "legitimate issue," and that the injury accord as a result of a collission with running back Rex Burkhead's helmet leading to a lot of blood.

"Tom Brady's throwing hand is not something to sort of shrug off or laugh about. It's a legitimate issue," Rapoport said, later adding: "There was a lot of blood. One person described it to me as 'gushing blood.'"

One big question that remains is whether or not Brady will wear a glove on his throwing hand against the Jacksonville Jaguars, something he prefers not to do. One source told Adam Schefter of ESPN that Brady "probably" will wear a glove to protect the stitches.

"Tom Brady, in the words of one source, 'probably will wear the glove (Sunday) just to protect the stitches,' though the QB has not indicated whether he has decided to wear it," Schefter wrote on Twitter.