FOXBOROUGH -- They weren’t a bunch of lasers, but Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw a series of easy passes during the start of practice yesterday, four days after his right shoulder was squashed under the weight of Washington’s 350-pound defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth.

Brady appeared to suffer no ill effects from the hit that came late in the first half of last Friday’s preseason win over the Redskins. The quarterback told WEEI’s “Dennis & Callahan” on Monday he was “expecting” to play in the regular-season opener, and in an interview with ESPN’s Chris Berman on Tuesday, he was asked if it was “all systems go for the shoulder.”

“You can throw?” asked Berman.

“Yeah. I’ve been doing that yesterday, and we’ll be doing that over the course of the next couple weeks. I’m feeling really good. I’m feeling real positive about where our team's at. I’ve had a good preseason,” said Brady, who is 26-for-42 for 307 yards with four touchdowns and one interception in three preseason games. “I’ve had a lot of good practices.

“You just shake it off, kind of identify what it is, and you move forward. It’s been a good couple of days here with getting back to feeling normal, getting back out to practice. Now, it’s just about getting ready for this Thursday’s game, and then, on to the real season.”

After the hit on Friday, which took place on an incomplete third-down pass attempt late in the second quarter, Brady came to the sidelines and continued to rotate his arm. He went to the bench, where he stretched his arm repeatedly as the half came to a close, and again after returning from the locker room after halftime. He did not return to the game.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick later said that Brady would have come out of the game regardless of what happened.

“I’m saying that we made the decision to play other quarterbacks in the second half of the Washington game because we wanted to see them play,” Belichick said. “That will be the same situation going forward into the Giants game.

“Tom had a desire to play, but we made a football decision to play other players because I think we need to see them at that position, and make an evaluation there.”

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Tuesday afternoon was the first chance the media had to see Brady attempt a pass since Friday -- reporters are only allowed to view the first few minutes of Patriots practice, and the quarterback did not attempt a pass in practice when the media was present on Monday. But that wasn’t the case Tuesday. With the media looking on, Brady appeared fluid. The passes took place during a low-intensity drill, but the quarterback certainly did not appear any worse for wear. He attempted passes of 10 and 25 yards, some of them in a play-action format and some across his body.

While Brady appeared sharp Tuesday, it’s not likely he will play in Thursday’s preseason finale against the Giants. Traditionally, Belichick has held his starters out of the fourth preseason game, preferring to get an extended look at his reserves before the final cuts are made on Saturday.

The Patriots will likely give a long look to backup quarterbacks Andrew Walter and Brian Hoyer, both of whom will likely play extended minutes in the wake of the release of Kevin O’Connell. O’Connell, who started training camp as the acknowledged No. 2 quarterback to Brady, was released on Monday.

At this point, Walter appears to be the leader in the clubhouse for the backup job, despite the fact he’s just 5-for-9 for 62 yards in limited action over the course of the preseason. He has experience as a starter in the NFL -- he started 15 games in four seasons with Oakland -- while Hoyer is an undrafted rookie free agent out of Michigan State.

“We want to give him a fair opportunity to pick things up. He's improved in a lot of areas,” Belichick said of Walter, who was signed by the Patriots on Aug. 4. “There are some things that we’ve asked him to do that he hasn't had a chance to do yet or he’s only had a chance to do them one or two times.”

Belichick would not rule out possibly making a deal for a veteran backup.

“Am I saying there’s going to be no more player movement? No, I’m not saying that,” Belichick said. “Could something happen at any position? Yeah, it could.”