It appears that Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles has yet to circle a specific date on the calendar to signal Tom Brady’s return.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Bowles indicated that there is no set date for when the 45-year-old quarterback will reunite with his teammates and that they will revisit the matter after Tampa Bay’s second on Saturday vs. Tennessee Titans preseason game, according to The Athletic.
Brady, who is returning for his 23rd NFL season and his third with the Buccaneers, stepped down from training camp last week to “take care of some personal things,” according to Bowles.
The first-year Buccaneers coach told reporters at the time, “We talked about that before camp started.” Bowles hinted at the time that Brady wouldn’t be back until after Saturday’s game against the Titans.
Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady retired from training camp last week due to personal reasons. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
There is no set date for Tom Brady’s return, according to Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Though speculation about Brady’s absence was immediately ramped up online, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said on The Pat McAfee Show last week that his absence was more related to a “work-life balance.”
“Nobody’s worried, they’re fine,” Rapoport previously said. “As far as I know, this is not a medical emergency affecting him, or I believe anyone close to him. I was told that everything is fine. The best way I could describe it is that finding a work-life balance is important.”
Before announcing his short-lived retirement in February, Brady spoke about wanting to spend time with his family, which includes his wife Gisele Bundchen and their two children, son Benjamin, 12, and daughter Vivian, 9, as well as his 14-year-old son Jack, who he shares with ex Bridget Moynahan.
“My wife is my number one supporter,” Brady said on his SiriusXM podcast “Let’s Go!” in January. “It hurts her to see me get beaten out there and she deserves what she needs from me as a husband and my children deserve what they need from me as a father. I’m going to spend some time with them and give them what they need because they’ve really given me what I need over the last six months – to do what I need to do and I said that a few years ago . That’s what relationships are about. It’s not always about what I want. It’s about what we want as a family. And I will spend a lot of time with them and in the future I will find out what is next.”
Tom Brady announced his return to the NFL in March after a brief 40-day retirement. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
If Brady returns, Buccaneers Brass will know their franchise quarterback will be zoned.
“He’s focused as always,” general manager Jason Licht said on WDAE radio last week, according to JoeBucsFan.
“He will come back even more focused. That is the least of our worries.”
The Buccaneers open the Dallas season with a Sunday Night Football showdown against the Cowboys.