FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady will miss the entire season with a left knee injury that needs surgery, leaving the New England Patriots without one of the game's great quarterbacks and severely damaging their hopes of a return trip to the Super Bowl.

The 2007 NFL Most Valuable Player will be placed on injured reserve, the Patriots said Monday, one day after Brady's knee collapsed under him when he was hit by Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard in the first quarter of a 17-10 victory over Kansas City.

A one-paragraph statement issued by the team confirmed that the two-time Super Bowl MVP will have surgery. Belichick would not say what the injury is, but the play, Brady's reaction and the prognosis all point toward a torn anterior cruciate ligament.