Tampa Bay Buccaneers Give Update on Tom Brady’s Return to Team

Tom Brady left the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week for “personal reasons.” And with the team entering the second week of the preseason, the question is will Brady be back once the season begins? Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles spoke to reporters on Thursday and was asked about Brady’s return to the team. Bowles didn’t give a date as to when Brady will be back and said they will have to wait and see how things go next week.

“We’ll talk about it next week,” Bowles said, per ESPN. “Not concerned about it right now. We’re trying to practice against Tennessee and play a game. I said ‘sometime after Tennessee.’ There’s no definitive date for me. But we’ll check on it, we’ll keep in touch and we’ll find out.”  

This is the first time in Brady’s 23 years in the NFL that he has taken a significant amount of time away from the team during training camp and the preseason. The Buccaneers approved Brady’s absences before the training camp began, and Bowles said he has kept in contact with Brady. The Buccaneers’ head coach is also confident that Brady will be with the team they then being the season on Sept. 11. Brady, who is entering his third season with the Buccaneers, retired in February but decided in March to play at least one more season.

With Brady away from the team, the Buccaneers have an opportunity to get good looks after fellow quarterbacks Blaine Gabbert, Kyle Trask and Ryan Griffin. In the team’s preseason game against the Dolphins last week, Trask got the majority of the snaps at quarterback and threw for 258 yards, one touchdown and one interception. 

“I thought he did a good job,” Bowles said of Trask after the game. “He was put in a lot of situations that we practiced. The two-minute situation was outstanding. He made a good drive in the first half. He had the two turnovers, one of them we have to block better on the fumble from the blind side. The other one was unfortunate but I thought he managed the game well. He handled situations well, he was in the game, he didn’t get rattled. Overall, I thought he played well.”