BOSTON -- Tom Brady, ever the consumate team player, is putting a good face on his season-ending knee injury, saying he still likes the New England Patriots chances this season, even if he's not going to be on the field.

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Brady sent an e-mail to Tom Curran at NBCSports.com Monday after it was announced that the injury he sustained during Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs would require surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee.

In it, he wrote, "It will be OK. I'm excited to see what our team is made of. I still like our chances."

At a Monday news conference, the Patriots recognized the loss to the team.

"You hate to see anyone go down. Nobody's worked harder or done more for this team than Tom has, so it's a tough setback for him," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said.

"You feel bad for Tom and our thoughts are with Tom and whatever situation he's going to have to deal with. But, you know, life goes on man. There's a lot of games left. We've won a lot of football games around here and that's not going to change," Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel said.

Belichick said the team now has to look forward.

"We all just have to do our jobs and that's what every player has to do. Each guy has a job to do. A coach, a player, each has a job to do and they need to do it as well as they can, and that really doesn't change," he said.

Patriots fans, however, were not taking the news so well. Many were shocked at the news they won't be seeing No. 12 back on the field this year.

"Totally bummed. A 20-minute season, awful," one woman said.

"We can't even be around our husbands at all," another said. "They're in total depression."

"Watched it all unfold. It was horrible. It is Tom Brady, so you know, so you figured he'd bounce right back up. And he didn't get right back up, so ... the crowd was pretty quiet," another said.

Around the NFL, players and coaches reacted to the news that Brady will be sidelined for the season.

"You never want to see that happen to a guy. I'm obviously one of the biggest Tom Brady fans. I'd say Tom Brady and Brett Favre are my two favorite quarterbacks, and any time you have a chance to watch them live play or play against them, you want to do that," Bills quarterback Trent Edwards said.

"He is no doubt an incredible player and I'd never minimize the impact that he has on any given game. But being part of New England and having a lot of seasons there, and a lot of seasons where there were injuries to key players -- and I know the quarterback position is different -- one of the things Bill (Belichick) and his staff have always been able to do is create a plan to win the game that week and overcome those things," Jets coach Eric Mangini said.

Even some of their staunchest rivals, however, said they arent' ready to count the Pats out this year.

"I think with New England, for me, I say they're still a very good team because they have so many other pieces and they're well-coached and they've got a good defense. And so you never know. Matt Cassel, he didn't turn the ball over, he managed the game. So you never know with New England. That's their style of football," said San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson.

"To me, they did the same thing when (Drew) Bledsoe went out. Everybody was saying the same thing. Then Tom Brady comes in, nobody knows who he is. Our first game, I remember, I was a rookie. And it was like, 'Who is this guy?' And he beats us. So you never know," Tomlinson said.

Patriots backup quarterback Matt Cassel will start Sunday against the New York Jets -- his first NFL start and, in fact, the first meaningful start since high school for the longtime backup who held a clipboard for Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at Southern Cal.

"I've always been impressed with Matt. ... He's a capable quarterback, and he'll do fine," Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "They may not win all 16 (but) they'll be there. They've got too much talent on that team and too good coaches to not be there at the end.

"Now, there's only one Tom Brady. It's very unfortunate for the Patriots and the league to lose a marquee player like that."

Even without Brady, the Patriots remain a team stocked with veterans in a mediocre division, and with one of the most successful coaches in NFL history.

"We're not going to tank it the rest of the season. That's not going to happen," defensive lineman Richard Seymour said in the Patriots locker room, across from where Brady's locker remained stocked with equipment and personal items. "There's always a way to win. We're not going to have a lot of excuses about it."

The Patriots have just two quarterbacks on the roster: Cassel and rookie Kevin O'Connell. Matt Gutierrez, who signed as an undrafted free agent before the 2007 season and has thrown one career pass, was released in the final cutdowns before the season.

Belichick denied media reports that out-of-work quarterbacks Chris Simms and Tim Rattay were headed to Foxborough to take physicals or to audition.

"In spite of what some people are putting out there, we haven't worked out anybody," he said. "We had a lot of people call us, I can tell you that."

For now, Cassel is his starter.

"I'm not trying to be Tom Brady. I'm just trying to be Matt Cassel," he said when subbing for Brady on his regular weekly radio show. "I don't know where that's going to take us."