FOXBOROUGH, Mass.

Tom Brady hasn’t missed many starts during his 18-year NFL career, and no one sounds too worried that he’ll be sidelined for Sunday’s AFC championship game.

Nonetheless, after Brady sat out the Patriots’ practice on Thursday — and did not speak to reporters as scheduled — there was plenty of speculation about the 40- year-old quarterback’s health.

Brady sat out with a right-hand injury after being limited by the same issue a day earlier as New England prepares for its matchup with Jacksonville.

Brady wore a glove on the injured hand during the stretching portion of practice that was open to reporters. He usually wears a glove only on his non-throwing hand. He was listed as a non-participant on the injury report, and his news conference was postponed until Friday.

With scant official information about the nature of Brady’s injury, it fell to backup quarterback Brian Hoyer to address the situation. More than 50 reporters swarmed his locker as he walked through the locker room, and after stepping into the training room, Hoyer returned to find the assembled group.

“You guys waiting for Phil?” Hoyer asked wryly, referring to receiver Phillip Dorsett’s adjacent locker.

For the next six minutes he was asked a half-dozen questions about Brady, a quarterback he has now backed up twice. Hoyer said he didn’t see Brady get hurt and wouldn’t elaborate on how much he’s been able to do in practice the last two days.

“I’m always preparing to play, because the truth of reality is you never know when your name’s gonna be called,” he said.

Jaguars coach Doug Marrone expects his defense to line up against Brady, not Hoyer, on Sunday.

“I’m sure he can throw left-handed if he has a problem with his right hand, you know, and throw it just as well,” Marrone said Thursday.

Hoyer was Brady’s backup for three seasons from 2009 through 2011. After leaving in 2012, he started for at least five-game stretches during stops in Cleveland, Houston, Chicago and San Francisco.

Brady appeared on the Patriots’ weekly injury report several times during the latter half of this season with injuries to both his Achilles tendon and his left shoulder.

He has never missed a playoff start during his 18- year career. He hasn’t missed any start because of an injury since he sat out the final 15 games of the 2008 season after tearing ligaments in his left knee during New England’s season opener.

Brady missed the first four games of 2016 while serving his “Deflategate” suspension. He also popped up on the injury report late that season, but he didn’t miss a game and capped the season with his MVP performance in the Patriots’ comeback win over Atlanta in the Super Bowl.

The host Seagulls jumped out to a 36-5 halftime lead and never looked back en route to a Class C South win over the Wolfpack.

Hyde fell to 2-5 and hosts Gould Academy today at 5 p.m. Old Orchard Beach improved to 8-2.

Emily Greenlee led a balanced Seagull attack with 11 points, while Shani Plante chipped in nine and Samantha Donnell eight.

Jada Holford scored six points for Hyde, with Maeve Dunn and Kyra Holdampf splitting eight points.