FOXBORO –– When the Patriots invade Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday to battle the Philadelphia Eagles, will All-Pro quarterback Tom Brady get a chance to play?

That is the million-dollar question.

Most NFL pundits, including Patriots chairman and CEO Robert Kraft and Brady himself, say that he will play in the Patriots preseason opener.

But when you ask the man who is ultimately in charge of making that decision, Patriots coach Bill Belichick, he sidesteps the question quicker than Barry Sanders did would-be tacklers in his prime.

“We’ll do what’s best for the football team,” Belichick says. “Whatever decisions those are, that’s what [we will do] … Some players will play. Some players won’t play. Some players will play more than others.”

The question was then asked another way. So Bill, do you feel it is important for Brady to play in the preseason, given what happened last year?

“I think it’s important for every player to be ready on opening day and be ready for the start of the season and again, I think for each individual player I could answer that question a lot of different ways,” Belichick answered.

We are asking about Brady.

“As we get closer to the game — this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow — we’ll talk about our playing rotation, what we feel each player needs and how to balance that with some of the other things I just mentioned,” Belichick said.

That, of course, is just Belichick being Belichick. He is a firm believer in keeping personnel injuries and game strategies a closely-guarded secret so that Patriot opponents’ don’t get any kind of advantage over them.

But this is the preseason, in which games don’t count. This is the preseason, in which teams work on their own plays and evaluate their own personnel, which often takes precedent over winning.

It is a fair question to ask. Brady did not play in the preseason last year because of a foot injury. He said that not playing in the preseason last year did not prepare him properly for the regular season, so he wants to play this preseason.

But that decision is not up to him. It is up to Belichick.

“I think that there are aspects that are positive [on] veteran players playing in preseason and I can also think of a lot of examples where players didn’t play in preseason and still had very productive seasons and were great players,” Belichick said. “I think that answer varies from player to player and possibly from year to year, too. We’ll take each case individually and start to make those kinds of decisions in the next couple of days.”

While Belichick is trying to keep it a closely guarded secret on whether Brady will play, Kraft says that he is willing to bet the farm that Brady will start against the Eagles.

“I’m expecting to play,” said Brady, who has participated in all of the Patriots’ practices this training camp. “There’s no reason why I wouldn’t. I’ve been out here doing everything. It will be nice to get out there and play some football.”

Brady said that he has not talked to Belichick about playing time, but he will be ready to play, as will everyone else.

“I think everybody’s ready,” Brady said. “We’ve had a good camp. I think guys have really been working hard and trying to do what Coach Belichick has asked so it will be nice for us to get out there and play the Eagles. They really gave it to us last year so hopefully we will perform better.”

The Eagles beat the Pats, 27-17, in the 2008 preseason.

Nobody knows what to expect when Brady takes the field. The last time he played in an NFL game, Sept. 7, 2008, in the Patriots’ season-opener, he had to be helped off the field when Kansas City safety Bernard Pollard rolled into the quarterback’s left leg, resulting in torn ligaments that required surgery to fix.

So Brady could be rusty entering this season. He will likely need to play in the preseason to be in top form when the regular season rolls around next month.

But the Patriots, not wanting Brady to get injured again, will understandably be cautious with their superstar. He has not played in a full game since the 2008 Super Bowl — Feb. 3, 2008.

Brady broke numerous NFL and franchise passing records and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player that season. He says that his arm is strong and he is in great shape.

“Tom’s worked hard in the offseason,” said Belichick. “He’s been a great player for this organization for many years and we’re glad to have him back out there. … He’s meant a lot to this team and he’s worked hard to get back on the field. I’m glad that he has an opportunity to do what he loves doing and I know he loves football.”

What will happen when he takes that first hit? We may find out Thursday night.

“I’m more excited than anything,” Brady said. “There’s nothing to be nervous about for me and I’m just excited. I’m excited to see how our team performs. That’s what I’m most excited about, to see what the 2009 version of the Patriots can be like. We’ve had quite a bit of changes and guys coming off injuries and guys who are new to the team, and it’s really our first test to see what this team is going to be about.”