As of Monday, Tampa Bay Buccaneers star midfielder Tom Brady remains plan returned to the club after a 10-day absence believed to be related to unspecified personal reasons following the team’s pre-season game at the Tennessee Titans this Saturday.
That could still happen even as outsiders continue to have more questions than answers regarding the seven-time Super Bowl-winning signal caller.
According to Greg Auman of The Athletic, head coach of the Buccaneers Todd Bowles spoke to reporters on Thursday and said he still doesn’t have a “definite date” on when Brady will return to the training ground. Bowles added topics that will be revisited after the game in Tennessee:
Follow Joe Bucs fan site, Bowles was also asked if Brady was watching practice movies and/or providing feedback to coaches while away.
“We’re just worried about our practice with Tennessee,” Bowles replied. “Tom doesn’t engage with the coaches. We train ourselves.”
Bowles added that he is “not interested” in Brady’s exact return date and is focused on the game against Tennessee at the weekend.
Like Josh Alper Noting to Pro Football Talk, both Bowles and general manager Jason Licht have publicly confirmed that Brady’s summer break was pre-planned and deleted by the team. On Monday, Bowles told Kevin O’Donnell of Tampa Bay’s Fox 13 television station that he and the future Hall of Famer have been in contact “during this time.”
Such words indicate that all concerned should know the exact end date for Brady’s hiatus. If that’s the case, Bowles is keeping it a secret ahead of the team’s trip to Nashville.
Tampa Bay closes the pre-season portion of the calendar at the Indianapolis Colts on August 27. Logic suggests that Brady won’t compete in that competition, assuming he’s already back on the team by then.
Currently, the main fallback Blaine Gabbert is at the top of the Buccaneers depth chart in Brady’s position.
