FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady took a season-high nine hits in Sunday's 41-25 victory over the Buffalo Bills, and acknowledged that he wasn't necessarily feeling "fresh as lettuce" upon waking up Monday morning.

"They were playing a lot of guys in pass coverage, which allowed me to hold on to the ball longer than normal," Brady explained on sports radio WEEI's "Kirk and Callahan Show."

"When you do that, you're just trying to find guys to get open. I don't really throw it away early, I would say. I just kind of wait until the last minute, and I would say they got a few good licks on me. That's football, and it's part of the season. It's good to take those hits and deal with the bumps and bruises because I think your body kind of calluses up to those hits. But, yeah, it's definitely a little more sore than it's been."

Of the nine hits Brady absorbed, five were sacks.

As for how that compares to the first three games Brady played this year, here is the breakdown:

Bengals

Sacks: 3

QB hits: 6

Steelers

Sacks: 0

QB hits: 3

Browns

Sacks: 1

QB hits: 3