FOXBORO - Tom Brady learned once again on Thursday night: be careful what you wish for.

After last week's preseason opener in Philadelphia, the quarterback said he wished an Eagles player would have "just come and (blasted) me" so he could get the anxiousness of taking a hit on his surgically repaired left knee out of the way.

He didn't know what he had in store.

Brady was hit hard twice against the Bengals - a game Cincinnati won, 7-6 -- and while physically he was fine, mentally the takedowns seemed to have an effect on him.

On first down during New England's first possession, Brady dropped back and Cincinnati second-year linebacker Keith Rivers fairly sprinted in a straight line through the Pats' offensive line and smacked Brady just as he was releasing the ball.

On the first play of the Patriots' next drive, defensive end Robert Geathers blew past right tackle Nick Kaczur and blindsided Brady, who had already begun looking to his left. Kaczur never even got his hands on Geathers, and was seen reaching for him white-and-orange jersey and he sped past him, his sights firmly locked on Brady.

After the hit from Rivers, Brady seemed to rush his throws and wasn't stepping into his passes, causing them to float away from receivers. He completed a screen on the first snap afterwards to Wes Welker, but the next play after that was a pass that went over Randy Moss' head.

A potential touchdown pass for Welker was a good yard in front of the wideout, and Brady forced a third-down throw to Moss when he was well-covered by Jonathan Joseph; Joseph broke up the pass.

Post-Geathers' blow, Brady handed off to Fred Taylor then completed a screen to Taylor on third-and-long.

That was the end of his night, as he completed 4-of-8 passes for 57 yards.

"You'd rather be the one giving hits than getting hits. But it's a physical game," Richard Seymour said. "You're definitely going to take some hits."

On several occasions, Brady has declared that he has put his injury behind him. But as he learned the hard way last night, that's easier said than done, and certainly easier during spring camps and training camp when there are no large defenders running at him full-speed.

Cincinnati quarterback Carson Palmer, who came back from a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee - the same injuries and knee as Brady - in the 2006 season, has said that the mental part of his return to the field was the most difficult for him. Indeed, his numbers in the early part of that year reflected his nerves: 15 of the 36 sacks he absorbed came in the first four games of the season.

Palmer did not play in Foxboro due to a high ankle sprain; former Pats' practice-teamer J.T. O'Sullivan and little brother Jordan Palmer handled the quarterbacking in his stead.

Brady did not hold a post-game press conference.

The hits are all part of the process for Brady, however, and it will be interesting to see how he responds against the Redskins next week, when it is assumed he will get his most extended playing time of the preseason.

Overall, however, it wasn't the best of nights for New England, as the final score showed. The offense struggled to sustain drives, whether Brady, Kevin O'Connell or Brian Hoyer was at quarterback, and it was also not a crisp game for the Pats, who were called for nine penalties totaling 96 yards.

Bill Belichick was not pleased with the performance of his team as a whole.

"I think it's pretty obvious out there that we certainly have a lot of work to do and a long way to go," he said. "I think we were pretty sloppy in every area of the game: had a lot of penalties, didn't convert on third downs, missed too many tackles. Just generally had too many mistakes, too many errors in every phase of the game, with every unit."

Belichick did note that the bulk of the positives for the Pats came on the offensive side of the ball.

While Brandon Meriweather noted that there are positives to be taken from every game, Seymour said it didn't feel like there were many positives when the team was on the field.

"It's tough to say (there were pluses) until we go out and look at the film, but it didn't feel that way looking at the scoreboard," he said.

Though Seymour didn't feel New England had a strong day, he was able to point to the varied defensive looks the team played with as something that will serve the Patriots in good stead going forward.

"We throw a lot of different looks - we started out in the 3-4, then went to the 4-3. Our ability to change not only game-to-game but also series-to-series is something that will be an asset for us."

Ever the pragmatist, Belichick still knew he might find some bright spots when he looks at the game tapes.

"I think each game is an opportunity to get out there and work on things individually, collectively, and you evaluate those when you get done," he said. "I'm sure we're going to see some things individually that were better than they were last week, and obviously we had some breakdowns during the course of the game and that affected some of our overall production."

In case you're keeping score at home, the one-point difference in the game came off the foot of Chad Ochocinco. Yes, the receiver who run his mouth and can make some great plays. Shayne Graham was nursing a "tender groin" and was held out of the game for precautionary reasons, so Ochocinco lined up for the PAT on Chris Henry's first-half touchdown, and the ball went high through the uprights.

Ochocinco also handled kickoff duties at the start of the second half. The receiver played soccer growing up, and was a kicker in high school.