Tom Brady is back with the Buccaneers. The 45-year-old arrived at camp today after being away from the team for 11 days to deal with what the team called a personal matter.
Brady is back, and the Buccaneers are happy.
“Anytime you have all your guys back, you feel good, you know, especially after the injury bug has hit lately,” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles said. “We’re happy to have him back,”
There were many different theories for why Brady left the team. According to Bowles, Brady’s absence was not an issue, and the team knew what was happening.
“No, we pretty much keep distractions out of our locker room,” he said. “It wasn’t a big deal to us because everybody knew what was going on.”
Also, Buccaneers tight end Cameron Brate and LaVonte Davis reacted to the return of Brady.
Cameron Brate:
(On QB Tom Brady’s performance in his first day back)
Brate: “Pretty much as expected. I’m sure wherever Tom was, he was working out still and getting his reps in. If anyone can get away with an 11-day break during training camp, it’s Tom. He came back firing on all cylinders again today. We are all excited he’s back, and we are ready to move on with that.”
(On if he noticed a missing veteran presence with Brady gone)
Brate: “It was definitely weird. Tom is such like an omnipresent being; he’s like the unquestioned leader of the team. For him to not be there for 11 days, it was kind of a good opportunity for other guys to step up and fill that void. It was different, Tom is usually kind of cussing guys up and down the field when we’re messing up, but we didn’t really have that. It was different, but I thought some of the other veterans stepped up. I thought Blaine [Gabbert] did a good job commanding the first team offense while Tom was out.”
LaVonte David:
(On how nice it is to have QB Tom [Brady] back today)
David: “It’s always nice to have Tom back, man. His presence is different, just the leader that he is, the type of guy he is. You know, it’s great to have a guy like that back, man. I’m sure he’s ready to work like today – he came back ready to pick up where he left off and leading the guys on offense.”
(On if there were any doubt Brady would be coming back)
David: “No doubt at all. You know, whatever time they said he was going to be out, I knew that whenever it was time to come back, he was going to come back. Tom is a competitor, he’s a team guy, and there was no doubt in our minds at all that he would be back in time.”
Notes:
On Monday, the Buccaneers placed outside linebacker LB Cam Gill(Lisfranc injury) and guard OG Aaron Stinnie(torn ACL/MCL) on injured reserve. Both will miss the rest of the season.
