Last week Bucs head coach Todd Bowles revealed that starting quarterback Tom Brady was going to take some personal time away from the team. Bowles said Brady would miss this week’s practices in Tennessee and Saturday’s game versus the Titans. So now that the Bucs vs. Titans practices have concluded, does he know when Brady will return to the team from his excused absence?
“We’ll see,” Bowles said. “We’ll talk about it next week. I’m not concerned about him right now. We’re trying to practice against Tennessee and play a game. I said sometime after Tennessee. There is no definitive date for me. We’ll check on it and keep in touch, and we’ll find out.”
Including this week’s four practices – two of which were in Tampa – Brady has now missed seven practices either due to a veteran’s day off or excused absences due to a personal reason. The Bucs have not revealed what personal reason is keeping Brady away from the team at this time. And the fact that Bowles doesn’t exactly know when he’ll return to the team is now more than a bit alarming.
On August 11, Bowles said his confidence in Brady playing in the season opener at Dallas on September 11 is “pretty high.” It’s unclear if that opinion remains unchanged.
Blaine Gabbert has been the starting quarterback and taken the reps with the first team in every practice Brady has missed.