It was announced by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that legendary quarterback Tom Brady will be taking some time off of the practice field so that he can deal with “some personal things.” He will not return for several weeks.
“Tom has been excused today,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said after practice, according to the team website. “He will be back sometime around after (the) Tennessee (preseason game). He’s going to deal with some personal things.”
Brady, who is 45, will miss the two preseason games, although he was not expected to play. Most teams do not play their top players much so that they can avoid injuries before the regular season starts.
“This is something we talked about before training camp started,” Bowles said. “We allotted this time because he wanted to get in and chemistry with the guys and go through two weeks of training camp.”
“It’s something that he needs to handle,” he added. “We trust him. We talked about it — it was scheduled way before training camp and he will not be here until after Tennessee.”
Bowles said that he has a high level of confidence that Brady will be ready when the regular season starts on September 11 against the Dallas Cowboys.
“Yeah, if he didn’t have the years and the experience that the guy has and comes in and works diligently, I would definitely be concerned,” he said.
Brady announced just after last season ended that he would be retiring, but he quickly changed his mind and announced in March that he would be back for his 23rd season. He led the NFL with 5,316 passing yards and 43 touchdown passes last season at 44 years old.
Brady is set for the future as well. He has signed a 10-year, $375 million deal to work with Fox Sports as an NFL analyst after he is finished playing.
“I know that I’m coming in as kind of a rookie to this, but I know I’m going to work extremely hard, like I always do,” he said to the media in June. “I still think there’s a lot of things that I’ve learned over my professional career that will carry over to a different career.”
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