FOXBORO (CBS) — Tom Brady returned to the practice field for the Patriots on Thursday after taking a sick day on Wednesday, and the quarterback spoke to the media after the session. The quarterback touched on a number of topics, from his expectations of the Broncos, to his role as a veteran leader on the Patriots, to Danny Amendola’s toughness, and so on.

But one topic that veered off the topic of the game at hand caught Brady by surprise, as one reporter asked the quarterback about a recent poll. Public Policy Polling asked fans to state which NFL quarterbacks are their favorite and least favorite. Though Brady finished as the second most-liked QB, he also finished as the least-liked QB. Of the folks polled, 13 percent chose Brady as their favorite, while 18 percent said Brady was their least favorite.

The quarterback was asked Thursday why this could be.

“There’s probably a lot of reasons,” Brady said while laughing. “I don’t know that’s a great question.”

When the reporter suggested to Brady that the celebrity quarterback’s life off the field inspired the hate, Brady said, “What kind of life do I have off the field that everyone knows so well?”

Well, there’s the supermodel wife.

“Oh, that! That’s the reason why,” Brady said, continuing to laugh.

“I live a great life. I do,” Brady added. “I’m not sure. I’m not sure. You’d probably have to ask all those people that you polled. But you’re right, there’s nothing I’d like to do more than play football for the New England Patriots. And yes, I have a great family, so thank you.”

Tim Tebow (12 percent), Robert Griffin III (11 percent), Eli Manning (7 percent) ranked behind Brady in the least-liked category. Peyton Manning was the most-liked, garnering 22 percent of the positive vote, while getting just 5 percent of the vote as least-liked QB.

The news surely comes as another blow to Brady. For weeks, the quarterback has tried and tried to earn a high five from teammates, only to be ignored. And last week, a Sporting News writer labeled him as the worst QB remaining in the playoffs, a reality that the future Hall of Famer was able to overcome in order to help the Patriots beat the Colts. The Patriots hope Brady doesn’t take the news of being the least-liked QB in the league too hard. Based on his response, it looks like Tom will be OK.