The Buccaneers are going to start their season with four very tough games. They need a clear plan in place for quarterback Tom Brady.
The Tom Brady drama with the Buccaneers looks like it is finally coming to a close, although it is hard to say with any certainty that the drama is ending for good after the last few months we have seen.
The most recent portion of this drama comes from Brady’s “personal reasons” absence from the team. All of the news has been a little wonky on this front, but it looks like an end is in sight.
The Buccaneers have confirmed that Brady is coming back at some point during this week. It looks like the vague answers aren’t going away.
Todd Bowles reiterates Tom Brady will be back this week, but won't say anything more specific. "Early" this week, he says.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) August 21, 2022
With Tom Brady set to return, the pressure is on the Bucs to get their quarterback up to speed with all of the news faces and ready to play against the Colts in the final preseason game.
Brady not playing in that game for a series or two would be a massive mistake.
The Bucs wouldn’t want to use their most important piece for too long, especially when looking at their recent losses on the injury front, but it is important that Brady gets the bare minimum reps against live opponents for the first time this offseason.
It makes sense that Brady and the coaching staff wanted to miss the middle part of the preseason as to build chemistry at the start and the end, but Brady has missed the joint practices and those high-intensity reps that are sure to come.
Not playing in the joint practices and no reps against the Colts is going to send Tom Brady into one of the most difficult four-game stretches of the last few years without enough preparation alongside all of his new teammates.
Those games could easily end with the Bucs sitting at one and three even if everything goes right. Doing anything to make that more difficult is not the right move.
The Bucs can safely use Brady without risking an injury.
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