Tom E. Curran • E-mail

Tom Brady’s decision to have surgery just 29 days after tearing apart his left knee may be the reason the New England Patriots quarterback is fighting infections, a league source said.

Brady, the NFL’s 2007 MVP, had his ACL and MCL torn in the first quarter of the Patriots' first game on a hit by Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard.

There are conflicting philosophies on how long to wait before performing surgery, but league sources say the Patriots encouraged Brady to wait until his MCL healed before having the ACL surgically repaired. That’s usually a six-week span.

But Brady, wanting to resume training as soon as possible, looked for alternatives that would have him rehabilitating sooner. And now he's battling infection in the area of the MCL. That area, according to The Boston Herald, has required three procedures since the initial surgery.

"It's bad," said the source.

ESPN.com, citing a source it did not identify, reported that “the Patriots, as an organization, are upset with the situation because they were clear that they wanted Brady’s surgery done under the direction of doctors of their choosing in Boston.”

Later on Thursday, the team issued a statement denying that they are upset that Brady opted against the team’s preferred doctors and decided to have surgery on the West Coast.

“This unsubstantiated report does not represent the team’s views whatsoever,” the statement said. “We have supported Tom Brady one hundred percent from day one of this process and will continue to do so. ... Today, we reiterate our total support for Tom as he recovers from his injury.”

Brady decided to have his surgery done by Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Oct. 6 at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles.

According to the source, ElAttrache found Brady’s MCL was still “loose” when he went in to operate, so he performed a procedure to remedy that. ElAttrache then performed the ACL repair with a patellar tendon graft.

Had surgery been delayed, the MCL would have likely been fully healed and needed no attention, experts say. Ultimately, the infection could affect the integrity of the ACL repair and — worst-case scenario — lead to permanent knee stiffness caused by scar tissue that builds around the infection.

Also, if the ACL repair is compromised, Brady will need the procedure repeated. Experts say that if that’s the case he’ll need six weeks to clear the infection before that’s performed. And that would likely cause him to miss at least the beginning of the 2009 season.

The NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement permits players to choose their own doctors.

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