Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tom Brady recently took a leave of absence from training camp to “deal with personal things,” leading to rampant speculation about his personal life and future in the NFL. Last week, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe went on The Herd with Colin Cowherd and told Colin that Brady looked “miserable” in practice before taking his leave. He also discussed the offseason talks between Brady and the Miami Dolphins. No one is quite sure what is going on with TB12, but we know he won’t be at the Bucs preseason game in Tennessee this Saturday. But will he be back in time for Week 3, when the Buccaneers take on the Packers?
Timeline unclear for Brady:
Todd Bowles said he doesn’t have a firm date for Tom Brady returning. Said it’ll be after Titans game and they’ll revisit it after that.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) August 18, 2022
Last week, it was reported by Ian Rapoport on the Pat McAfee Show that this was a “planned” absence. However, the lack of a timetable seems to suggest otherwise. Bucs star linebacker Devin White also seemed to contradict the planned nature of this absence by saying this to reporters:
Devin White today on Tom Brady's excused absence: "He's a grown man, growner than a lot of us in the locker room. He's a human. At the end of the day, he's got personal problems going on, but he's been doing this so long, he doesn't need to be here."
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) August 11, 2022
There is a lot of speculation on the internet right now. Yet, nobody knows for sure what is going on with the 7-time Super Bowl Champion. White saying that Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tom Brady has “personal problems going on” may have just been a slip-up or not truly the root of this. Perhaps he thought that was a good generic explanation for the absence. We know that Brady is not in the building right now, and the Bucs are not exactly the healthiest team heading into the regular season.
What does Brady’s absence mean for the Packers?
The Packers travel to Tampa Bay on Sept. 25 for a 3:25 PM tilt with the Buccaneers. At full strength, these should be two of the top teams in the NFC. The game could be important for playoff positioning. In addition to Brady’s absence, Pro Bowl center Ryan Jensen went down with a serious knee injury early in camp, and his timetable for return is unclear. Chris Godwin is coming off a knee injury, and it is unclear when he will be ready for game action. Also, just today, star tackle Tristan Wirfs left practice with an abdominal injury:
Bucs tackle Tristan Wirfs comes off the field with a trainer, looked like an injury to ribs/abdomen.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) August 18, 2022
Catching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers early is looking like a blessing for the Packers, given the absence of Tom Brady and the mounting injuries to star players. With regards to Brady, I’m going to assume that he will be there in Week 3.
Some are questioning whether he will return to the team at all. I’ll just say that I won’t believe he’s done until I actually don’t see him on the field. That said, when you combine injuries to key players leading to a potential lack of continuity between Brady and teammates and with TB12 not being in camp, it could take the Bucs a while to hit their stride. This should help the Packers in Week 3, and potentially with playoff positioning should both teams make it.
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