The 45-year-old quarterback missed practice Thursday and Bowles told reporters he wouldn’t return until after the team’s second preseason game on Aug. 20.
“Tom was excused today,” Bowles said. “He’ll be back sometime after Tennessee. He’ll take care of some personal things.
“It’s something we talked about before training camp started. We allocated that time because he wanted to come in and have chemistry with the guys and go through two weeks of training camp.
“Knowing he wasn’t going to play the first two games, he didn’t want to take out representatives of Blaine (Gabbert) and Kyle (Trask), as well as (Ryan Griffin), as it relates to those next two Games.”
Bowles did not elaborate on the reason for Brady’s absence but said it was a plan that was put in place before training camp began and remained confident Brady would be back for the clash. the team’s season opener against the Dallas Cowboys.
“Obviously there will always be doubts,” Bowles said, “but I have a pretty high level of confidence, yes.”
Bucs linebacker Devin White said Brady has his team’s support and understanding.
“He’s a grown man — (more grown) than most of us in the locker room, and he’s a human at the end of the day,” White said. “He has personal issues, but he’s a guy who’s been doing this for so long that he (doesn’t) need to be here.
“If he’s not here, we know he’s still working. He’s got a great supporting cast around him and he’s going to do his job whether he’s here or not here, so when he comes back he’ll will never miss a beat and that’s the only important thing.
“But more than football, we pray for all he has as a human being and we hope everyone else does too and that’s all we ask for him – his well-being. The football comes second, him being a human comes first.”
Since joining the Bucs in 2020 from the New England Patriots, Brady has helped significantly improve the team’s success.
A perennial underachiever prior to his arrival, the Bucs won the Super Bowl in Brady’s first season at the helm; his seventh Super Bowl ring.
The team fell short of expectations last season, losing to eventual Super Bowl winners the Los Angeles Rams in the playoffs.
Despite being the league’s oldest quarterback, the odds for the Bucs are once again dizzying this season: Super Bowl or fail.
