The headlines were already written long in advance of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Week Six loss to the Pittsburg Steelers with starting Buccaneers QB Tom Brady flying to Robert Craft’s wedding on Friday night.
It took only moments after the game to end before the questions from reporters about Brady receiving special treatment and not being invested enough to begin their onslaught.
Thankfully, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles was not one to entertain those rumors in the slightest.
When asked if he felt Brady’s absence from the team’s travel plans contributed to the team’s performance Sunday, Bowles responded without hesitation, “absolutely not.” Bowles then went on to add that Brady, “didn’t miss anything.”
This of course is true and for fans and the media to act like Brady even missing a walkthrough drastically affected his performance is absurd. He took a private plane to a wedding, then was back with his team the next day and missed very little in the grand scheme of things.
On top of all this, it should not be ignored that Brady still had a solid day. throwing for nearly 250 yards, one touchdown, and no turnovers. While it wasn’t his best performance, it was far from the type of game that should make people skeptical of his talent. It is also worth noting how poorly the rest of the team played.
It does seem odd that the same person people are claiming doesn’t care is routinely yelling at his teammates when they make easy mistakes and holding them to a high standard.
Generally, when a QB doesn’t care, you don’t see them chastising teammates for poor play or going out of their way to try and sign talented free agents like Brady has done during his entire tenure with the Bucs.
Bowles is a smart guy, and he was absolutely correct to defend Brady here.
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