Tom Brady: 'I feel better now at 39'

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Bradywill turn 40 next summer but has said his goal is to play into the next decade.

That goal seems right on track after Sunday's 33-13 victory over the Browns, because it appears Brady won't be slowing down anytime soon. The four-time Super Bowl champion returned to action with a decisive performance, going 28-of-40 for 406 yards with three touchdowns after serving a four-game suspension to open the season as part of the NFL's Deflategate punishment.

Not only did he look good against the Browns, he said he felt even better.

"I know I've talked at length about how I've felt over the years and I feel better now at 39 than I did when I was 29 -- and I feel like it's due to a lot of things," Brady said during his weekly interview on The Kirk and Callahan Show on WEEI early Monday morning. "I feel like I'm in a good routine and if I play a game like I did [Sunday], I feel like by Wednesday practice, you know, I'm geared up to go.

"It's not like I do a ton of running anyway. I just kind of stand back in the pocket and, drop back and make the throws. You know, you got to take some hits, but for the most part, quarterbacks can play a long time."

Brady did do some running late in the third quarter, scrambling 4 yards to the right sideline to convert a first down. He promptly sprang to his feet to give a deliberate first-down signal in which he brought his right arm high into the air in front of him while his left hand rested on his right shoulder.

"I don't run much, so when I do, I think I was a little excited. I'm glad we got the first down," he said after the game Sunday.

Brady seemed to have little rust despite missing the first four weeks,leading the Patriots to touchdowns on their first three drives.

"It comes back pretty quick," Brady told WEEI. "Wednesday [practice] was decent, Thursday I felt a little better out there and Friday I felt way better than Thursday. So I was hoping Sunday I'd feel better than I did on Friday.

"I think by the time I got out there for warm-ups, I felt kind of like, 'Man, I've done this before.'"

Information from ESPN Patriots reporter Mike Reiss was used in this report.