NEW ORLEANS -- Tom Brady's ankle might not be as healthy as the New England Patriots claim.

Two-time Super Bowl MVP Steve Young, who saw tape of the Patriots working out, said Thursday that Brady was "definitely hurting" while practicing.

"I just saw him drop back," Young said. "I think he's hurting."

Super Bowl practices are closed to the media except for a pool reporter and photographer. Pool reports Wednesday and Thursday said Brady appeared to have no problems with the ankle he sprained in the AFC championship game. In his capacity as an ESPN analyst, Young saw pool video provided by NFL Films.

"I don't think the ankle will be an issue," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said, according to Thursday's pool report, which said Brady rolled out "without any sign of a limp" and stayed after practice for five minutes with No. 3 quarterback Damon Huard.

Belichick was not available to respond to Young's comments, and Patriots spokesman Stacey James declined to do so. Brady said before practice that he expected to wear a brace to stabilize his left ankle.

"From where it was Sunday, it feels a ton better than it did," he said. "It's sore, it's a little tender, but I think there's a lot of body parts of mine that are sore."

Appearing at a youth center the NFL is helping to renovate, Young endorsed Belichick's decision to start Brady over Drew Bledsoe. The Patriots have won eight consecutive games with Brady as the starter and have gone 13-3 since he took over for Bledsoe, who this summer signed the richest contract in NFL history.

Fellow Super Bowl MVPs Joe Namath ('69) and Joe Montana ('82, '85, '90) also agreed with Belichick's choice of Brady.

"I liked him from the first day I saw him," Namath said. "He's tough and his teammates love him and he's got a great future. I think it's a great luxury to have Bledsoe, too. I know the team has confidence in both of those guys."

Young, who developed a frosty relationship with Montana while waiting to succeed the future Hall of Famer with the San Francisco 49ers, said he also thought the Patriots should keep both quarterbacks.

"I worked through it for five years. It's a tough situation, but you've got to work through it," Young said. "Those are their two biggest assets. There aren't 32 NFL-quality quarterbacks in the league. If you have the luxury of having two, make sure you can keep both of them.

"They've already needed both of them."

Bledsoe was the starter for eight years, breaking virtually every one of the team's passing records. But after he was injured in Week 2, Brady replaced him, held the starting job when Bledsoe recovered and led New England to the AFC East title.

Brady starred in a 16-13 overtime victory over the Oakland Raiders in the Patriots' first playoff game, but he was hurt in the second quarter of the conference championship. This time it was Bledsoe coming off the bench to rescue the team.

That forced Belichick to pick one to start in the Super Bowl against the St. Louis Rams, and he chose Brady.

"I don't think there really was any (controversy)," Montana said at a separate news conference earlier Thursday. "If he was healthy, he would start."

Namath, the architect of one of the greatest Super Bowl upsets when the Jets beat the Colts 16-7, said he wouldn't count out the Patriots, who are 14-point underdogs. That's one of the biggest spreads since the Jets entered the 1969 game getting 18 points.

"They can do it and I hope they do," Namath said. "It's not just because they're underdogs. But I enjoy seeing underdogs win. Maybe people around the country see that and think they can win, too."

Of course, Rams quarterback Kurt Warner doesn't share that view -- even though he considers Brady a kindred spirit.

"I'm hoping his Cinderella story stops one game short," he said.