Bucs quarterback Tom Brady addressed the team’s poor play and playing with the distraction of his divorce from wife Gisele Bündchen on his “Let’s Go” podcast with Jim Gray on Monday. Tampa Bay has lost three straight games, including five of its last six, to fall to 3-5 on the season.

Gray asked Brady what is going on with the Bucs and why are they out of sync?

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“What’s going on? I’ve gotten that question quite a bit lately and, you know, I think we’re trying to get it right and we just haven’t figured it out yet,” Brady said. “So, look, when you’ve lost five out of six games, there’s not a lot of good things to be said. I know even coming on this show, you and I joke that it’s a lot more fun when we win because there’s way more positive things to talk about.

“That’s how we feel at work, too. And I think the silver lining is we have not lost any hope or confidence in one another. We just haven’t played well enough. And we’re not getting the ball in the end zone enough. And we’re not making plays that we’re capable of making.”

Brady pointed to the silver lining that despite being two games under .500, the Bucs are still in the thick of things in the NFC and the NFC South. The Bucs have a 2-1 record in the division.

The Falcons, who are 4-4, only have a 1-2 record in the division and the Bucs beat them head-to-head. The 2-6 Panthers are also 2-1 in the division and beat the Bucs head-to-head two weeks ago. The 3-5 Saints are 1-2 in the NFC South and lost to the Bucs head-to-head in Week 2.

“There’s a lot of statistics you can point to and a lot of things that are going to be below the line so to speak,” Brady said. “We’re just not getting the job done and we’ve got to go work harder and stronger and more emotional in a positive way in order to stop the losing momentum and get it turned around.

“Again, another silver lining is our division, none of the teams in our division have great records, so what we do from here, it’s all ahead of us. Hopefully we can get some players healthy. Hopefully we can play better football on Sunday and continue through this season and give it our best. We had practice earlier today and we’re going to continue to fight like we always have. And we’ve got to fight harder and that’s what it takes in the NFL right now.”

Bucs, Brady In Unfamiliar Territory

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Gray pointed out that Brady has never been 3-5 before and two games under .500. The last time that occurred, according to Gray, was in 1998 at Michigan, where Brady was 0-2 to start the season before winning eight straight. Gray said Brady was in unfamiliar territory right now. The Bucs haven’t started a season this bad since going 2-6 in 2019 before finishing 7-9 in Bruce Arians’ first season in Tampa Bay.

“You know what, I’m glad it’s unfamiliar. I want this to be as unfamiliar as possible,” Brady said. “Losing sucks and we’ve put a lot into winning, just like every team does. And no one’s feeling sorry for the Bucs. We know that and we’ve got to go change it. So I think the attitude is, there’s no surrender. There’s nobody that’s backing down from the challenge. We’ve faced adversity before. We all have. You face adversity in your professional life. You face adversity in other aspects of life. It all builds resilience and you learn how to deal with the adversities and hopefully they make you stronger.

“So we’re going to go out there this week and we’re going to try to be the best we could be this week. Who cares what happened in the past eight weeks? Our record is what it is. We’re not changing it. We can’t change any game that we’ve had. All we can do is learn from the last eight weeks and try to apply it in a winning way this week. And, you know, it’s a big challenge for us. So we’re going see what we were made of. And I think time will tell all.”

Brady Addresses Playing Through The Distraction Of His Divorce

Gray addressed Brady’s divorce from his wife, which the Bucs QB publicly acknowledged on social media last Friday.

“Tommy, there’s an awful lot going on in your life away from the football field,” Gray said. “You’re a very public figure and your personal life spills over. It’s created, I’m sure, a number of challenges for you this season.”

Brady took the question in stride.

Bucs QB Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen – Photo by: USA Today

“Yeah, Jim, you know, I think there’s a lot of professionals in life that go through things that they deal with at work and they deal with at home,” Brady said. “Obviously the good news is it’s a very amicable situation and I’m really focused on two things, taking care of my family and certainly my children and, secondly, doing the best job I can to win football games.

“So that’s what professionals do. You focus at work when it’s time to work, and then when you come home you focus on the priorities that are at home. All you can do is the best you could do. That’s what I’ll just continue to do as long as I’m working and as long as I’m being a dad.”

Gray replied and said, “Is there a challenge compartmentalizing between the two?”

“Well, I think that’s what being a professional is. I’ve dealt with a lot of challenging situations on and off the field over 23 years, and a lot of it does play out in front of a lot of people. So it’s, I think the interesting thing for a football player or an athlete in general is, you know, you’re out there, I always say we’re not actors. Even though we’re on TV, you know, that is our real self out there. We’re trying to do our best. That’s how people really have gotten to know me over the years, by being on TV. And that is an authentic self that’s out there to compete with my teammates every day. And you’re giving all you can to the team and, you know, everyone’s going through different things.

“We all have our unique challenges in life. We’re all humans. We do the best we could do. I have incredible parents that have always taught me the right way to do things. I want to be a great father to my children and always try to do things the right way as well. And to deal with things in your life that have challenges, you want to deal with them in the best possible way. So I want to always be able to hold my head high on and off the field, and I’m going try to continue to do that for as long as I’m here.”

Bucs’ Face A Big Challenge In Playing The Rams

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Brady and the Bucs face a stiff challenge this week, hosting the Rams on Sunday. Los Angeles has beaten the Bucs the last three times the two teams have met, including a 30-27 contest in the NFC Divisional Playoff at Raymond James Stadium en route to the Rams winning Super Bowl LVI over the Bengals last year. The Rams are 3-4 and are coming off a 31-14 home loss to the 49ers.

“A very good team that plays us very difficult. They’re a tough team to go against,” Brady said. “They rush the quarterback well. They do a very good job controlling the ball on offense, very well coached, and that’s why they won the Super Bowl last year. So they have a great pass rush. They got Bobby Wagner at middle linebacker, Jalen Ramsey. They’ve got a very good secondary. Nick Scott’s back there. He’s playing great football, too. So we’ve got our work cut out for us.

“It doesn’t get any easier, especially when you’re not playing as well as you’re capable of. But we’ve got to figure out a way and we got to, first of all, it starts in practice and we’ve got a tough week of practice ahead because we have to make improvements. And that’s what football season’s all about.”