The health of quarterback Tom Brady’s injured foot could determine the success of the Patriots’ season.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

Absence does, indeed, make the heart grow fonder.

Just ask Gisele Bundchen.

Or New England Patriots football fans.

Both have an easily understandable love affair going with the Pats’ strong-armed, dimple-chinned, comely and talented quarterback, Tom Brady.

(I also could ask Providence Journal readers if they’ve missed me during the last two weeks I’ve spent on the golf course and at the beach, but I won’t, because I’m afraid I already know the answer.)

At any rate, there’s no doubt that, much as you love Brady when you see him, you appreciate him even more when you don’t.

Pats fans have gotten a look this summer at what the defending AFC champions’ offense could be like without Tom Terrific at QB, and it isn’t a pretty sight. Talk about the dog days of August — the New England offense is a dog without Brady. And not a barking, woofing dog, but a whimpering, simpering dog.

Granted, these summer scrimmages with Baltimore and the Bucs are only preseason encounters. That disclaimer is always required at this time of year. Come September, things are much different.

What isn’t going to change, however, when summer turns to fall and the games start to count in the standings is that there’s a reason Matt Cassel hasn’t started a regular-season game since he was in high school. While it’s no disgrace to have been the backup to the likes of Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at Southern Cal, and the incomparable Brady in New England, the flip side is that Cassel clearly is not as good as any of those guys, which means he’s not remotely good enough to lead the Patriots to a championship. Or even the playoffs. Or maybe even a victory. Or perhaps, even — gulp — a touchdown, judging by his performances so far this summer.

Behind him on the depth chart are Matt Gutierrez, undrafted last year out of Idaho State, and this year’s third-round choice, Kevin O’Connell out of San Diego State, where he was second-team All-Mountain West Conference last year, behind BYU sophomore Max Hall.

With Cassell, Gutierrez and O’Connell sharing the playing time, the Patriots have scored just one touchdown in each of their two preseason games.

Consequently, Cover Boy Tom — Esquire is his latest — whose main squeeze, the glamorous Gisele, who has graced even more magazine covers than he has, is looking better than ever, without having stepped on the field in either of the Pats’ first two exhibition games. Brady is stepping rather gingerly these days.

New England fans will recall that, following the AFC Championship Game last January, Brady was photographed wearing a protective boot on his right ankle while limping toward Ms. Bundchen’s bachelorette pad in Manhattan.

He did play in Super Bowl XLII, keeping intact his streak of never having missed a start since taking over for Drew Bledsoe in the third game of the 2001 season, but his mobility and effectiveness clearly were hampered.

Of course, the way his offensive line was being manhandled, Brady would have had to have been a combination of Fran Tarkenton, Doug Flutie and Michael Vick to elude the Giants’ fearsome pass rush.

Gisele has a better chance of evading the paparazzi than Brady did of escaping Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan.

The Patriots have been extremely fortunate that Brady has remained healthy for as long as he has. But he turned 31 this month, and the accumulated wear and tear of seven seasons — and six postseasons — as a starter may start to show, especially since the Giants showed how vulnerable his protection can be.

What else has been shown this summer is something Patriots fans have known for a while now, but prefer not to think about — that, if Brady goes down, New England’s Super Bowl hopes go down with him.

So the question, if the Pats hope to get back to the Super Bowl for the fifth time in eight years, is not whether Cassel or Gutierrez or O’Connell can do the job (we know they can’t), but whether player-personnel guru Scott Pioli can, or will, make a move to obtain a veteran backup — if not someone who can carry the team for an extended period, then at least someone who can put enough points on the board, and/or avoid making too many mistakes, to allow the Patriots to remain in contention if Brady suffers an injury that sidelines him for only a few weeks.

Are the Pats really willing to risk their championship chances on the hope that Brady yet again can play every game?

As good as he looks when he’s in the game — there’s nobody better in the NFL right now, and only Peyton Manning can legitimately claim to be his equal — Brady looks even better when he’s not playing, because the Patriots look so much worse without him.

Pats fans truly appreciate how good Brady is when they see how bad the offense is when he’s not in the lineup.

Absence does, indeed, make the heart grow fonder.

Except, perhaps, in the case of sports writers.

jdonalds@projo.com