Fresh off a long bye weekend in the Miami sunshine, Tom Brady seemed to be in good spirits during his weekly radio appearance on Boston’s WEEI, giving Patriots fans some great news when he declared himself to be in great shape physically.

Asked if the bye week was more important for him mentally or physically, Brady said it was the former.

“My body’s feeling great. I haven’t been sacked much this year. I haven’t taken many hits,” he said. “My arm feels great, I’m feeling good physically. I’m excited to get back to work. Watching the games yesterday, you’re glad you’re resting in a sense, but in another sense, you wish you were out there playing, especially watching the Miami-Jets game. You get anxious to be back on the field.”

There was understandably great concern about Brady’s return to the field after missing last season due to a torn ACL, the first time in his career the quarterback his missed time due to injury.

Though Brady repeatedly declared himself ready to go from the start of spring camps, it clearly took him some time to reacquaint himself with things on the football field; over the last two games, it is clear that he is pretty much back to his old self, though certainly playing then-winless Tennessee and Tampa Bay in back-to-back games helped his cause.

He was asked about 40-year old Brett Favre as well and whether he sees himself playing that long; the 32-year-old Brady has said this year that he believes he can play until he’s 40.

“I feel the best I’ve every felt. At quarterback, typically, guys retire due to injury; a lot of other positions retire because they can’t run any more. That’s what the game comes down to for 90 percent of the other players,” Brady said. “For the quarterback, running is not the issue. I was slow to start, and I’m slower now, and I’ll be slower 10 years from now, but so is Favre, and so is Peyton Manning.

“What the quarterback needs to be able to do is direct the offense and lead, use their experiences and intelligence to get the ball to the guys who can do something with it… assuming my arm feels great, there aren’t a lot of other things that are going to keep me from wanting to be out there and wanting to play. Five or six years ago, my arm would hurt every day throwing the football. Now my arm never hurts. So I really understand my arm. It’s something every quarterback should learn.”

In case you were wondering, Brady and wife Gisele Bundchen had a mini-honeymoon in Florida, and it did include watching AFC East foes Miami and New York play on Sunday afternoon.

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More good news came later on Monday, when defensive line stalwart Ty Warren sounded optimistic about his chances of playing this weekend against Miami.

The veteran was carted off the field against Tampa Bay with a right ankle injury but said on WEEI, “I’m feeling pretty good about my situation. I’m feeling o.k.”

The fact that Warren was able to take part in the interview leads one to believe that he is doing well; typically injured players are not made available.

smanza@projo.com